Thoracic Duct Fistula after Thyroid Cancer Surgery: Towards a New Treatment

Abstract

The use of somatostatin analogs is a new conservative therapeutic approach for the treatment of chyle fistulas developing after thyroid cancer surgery. The combination therapy with a total parenteral nutrition should avoid the high morbidity of a re-intervention with an uncertain outcome. This promising trend is supported by the present case report of a chyle leak occurring after total thyroidectomy with central and lateral neck dissection for a papillary carcinoma, which was treated successfully without immediate or distant sequelae.