Parathyroid gland removal

Alternative Names: Removal of parathyroid gland; Parathyroidectomy

Parathyroidectomy is surgery to remove parathyroid glands or parathyroid tumors. The parathyroid glands are right behind your thyroid gland in your neck. These glands help your body make calcium.

Description of Procedure

You will receive general anesthesia (asleep and pain-free) for this surgery. The surgery may last from 1 - 3 hours.

Usually the parathyroid glands are removed using a 2- to 4-inch surgical cut on your neck.

• The cut is usually made just under your Adam's apple.
• Your surgeon will look for the four parathyroid glands and remove any that are diseased.
• You may have a special blood test during surgery that will tell if all the diseased glands were removed.
• Rarely, when all four of these glands need to be removed, part of one is transplanted into the forearm.

Your surgeon may use one of these three other surgery techniques. Your surgeon must know where any diseased parathyroid glands are before using any of these techniques.

• Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy: You may receive a shot of nuclear material before this surgery. If you have this shot, your surgeon will use a special probe, similar to a Geiger counter, to locate the parathyroid gland. Your surgeon will make a small cut (1 to 2 inches) on one side of your neck, and then remove the diseased gland through it. This procedure takes about 1 hour.
• Video-assisted parathyroidectomy: Your surgeon will make two small cuts in your neck. One is for instruments, and the other is for a camera. Your surgeon will use the camera to see the area and will remove the diseased glands with the instruments.
• Endoscopic parathyroidectomy: Your surgeon will make two or three small cuts in the front of your neck and one cut above the top of your breastbone. This reduces visible scarring, pain, and recovery time. This cut is less than 2 inches long. The procedure to remove any diseased parathyroid glands is similar to video-assisted parathyroidectomy.

Risks of Parathyroid gland removal

Risks for any anesthesia are:

• Reactions to medicines
• Breathing problems

Risks for any surgery are:

• Bleeding
• Infection

Risks for parathyroidectomy are:

• Injury to the thyroid gland or the need to remove part of the thyroid gland
• Hypoparathyroidism. This can lead to low calcium levels that are dangerous to your health.
• Injury to the nerves in your vocal cord. You may have a weaker voice or a hard time swallowing thin liquids.
• Difficulty breathing. This is very rare and almost always goes away several weeks or months after surgery.

Parathyroidectomy	Parathyroidectomy - series

Review Date: 11/5/2010
Reviewed By: Shabir Bhimji MD, PhD, Specializing in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Midland, TX. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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