Reference: FOI-2024-1759  

You asked

How many people per year die of a thyroidectomy ? (Based on 2021 2022)

What is the percentage of people who survive a thyroidectomy per year? (2021 2022)

We said

Thank you for your enquiry. 

Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. All the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules.     

The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:    

a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or\ b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury   

The is no specific ICD10 code for death due to a thyroidectomy. ICD10 codes E89.0 and E89.2 relate to Postprocedural hypothyroidism and Postprocedural hypoparathyroidism respectively. There were no deaths registered between 2021 - 2022 where either of these conditions were coded as the underlying cause of death. 

There was 1 death registered in this period where one of these conditions was mentioned on the death certificate. 

ONS does not hold data on the number of thyroidectomies performed, and therefore cannot provide information on survival rates. NHS England may hold this information.