Pre-Operative Lugol's Iodine Treatment in the Management of Patients Undergoing Thyroidectomy for Graves' Disease: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Objective: To undertake a review of the relevant English literature published on the pre-operative use of Lugol's iodine in the management of patients undergoing thyroidectomy for Graves' disease.

Search strategy: We reviewed all relevant papers found through Ovid Medline, PubMed, EMBASE and the American Thyroid Association website. Searches were limited to the English language only.

Evaluation method: The critical appraisal tool CASP was used to help analyse the papers. Following this, the evidence was ranked using the Harbour and Miller classification of hierarchy.

Results: Four papers were deemed appropriate for analysis. The evidence contained within the review is considered weak. The literature available in the public domain regarding the use of iodinated solutions in the pre-operative period for those patients about to undergo thyroidectomy for Graves' disease is scant.

Conclusion: Having undertaken an extensive literature review, we are of the opinion that the evidence on which the American Thyroid Association's guidance on the use of preoperative Lugol's iodine is based is tenuous. There appears to be little in the way of sound clinical evidence that post-operative outcomes are any different following a course of Lugol's iodine. Given the lack of robust clinical evidence regarding the clinical need for iodine solution in the pre-operative period, it appears clear that a larger, prospective, randomised controlled trial of all relevant outcomes - clinical and scientific - is required to answer whether or not patient preparation with Lugol's iodine is in fact necessary prior to operative intervention for Graves' disease.

Keywords: Graves’ disease; Guidelines; Iodine; Thyroid function; Total thyroidectomy.