The effect of preoperative short-term octreotide treatment to surgery in thyrotropin-secreting pituitary adenomas: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: To prevent thyroid storm and ensure surgical safety, it is imperative to regulate excessive thyroid hormone levels in patients with thyrotropin-secreting pituitary adenomas (TSHoma) prior to surgery.

Somatostatin analogues (SSAs), such as octreotide, have showed efficacy in shrinking tumors, which may facilitate surgical resection.

This retrospective study aimed to investigate the effect of shortterm preoperative octreotide treatment on the surgical outcome of TSHoma.

METHODS: A total of 65 TSHoma patients from January 2010 to July 2019 were included in the study.

Of these,41 patients received short-term preoperative octreotide (Sandostatin, intermittent subcutaneous injection) treatment and all patients subsequently underwent surgery.

The following data were recorded: clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, sellar region MRI, postoperative pathological and electron microscopy data, intraoperative situation, and follow-up (> 3 months) regarding hormone levels and tumor recurrence.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the consistency and blood supply of the tumor between patients who received short-term preoperative octreotide treatment and those who did not.

Additionally, preoperative short-term octreotide treatment (median of 10 days with a range of 6–18 days) did not significantly improve the rates of gross total resection (GTR) or biochemical remission.

Moreover, electron microscopy revealed subcellular level impairments and cell apoptotic in the octreotide treated TSHoma specimens.

CONCLUSION: Preoperative octreotide treatment for the purpose of reducing excessive thyroid hormones may not enhance surgical outcomes, and the duration of octreotide treatment needs to be extended to fully benefit from the tumor-shrinking effects of SSAs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-023-01398-z.