Your parathyroid glands may be partially or entirely removed during a parathyroidectomy, often known as parathyroid surgery. The parathyroid glands regulate the levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. Parathyroid surgery eliminates the aberrant glands that cause dangerously high blood calcium levels once they stop functioning correctly. Even though a parathyroidectomy may only require minor incisions, it remains a risky procedure—parathyroidectomy is customary. A surgeon makes a four-centimetre incision into the neck muscle to reach your glands.
When is it used?
On either side of the thyroid gland in front of the neck, there seem to be four parathyroid glands.
Hyperparathyroidism is the medical term for the overactivity of a parathyroid gland. The blood’s calcium levels increase as a result. You may encounter:
- Muscle sluggishness
- Bones that have thinned too soon
- Kidney stones
- The lower level of alertness
- A lot of urine
- Sporadic joint discomfort
What takes place throughout the process?
You’ll typically be given general anaesthesia. General anaesthesia will keep you from feeling any pain during the procedure.
Your parathyroid glands are exposed after the surgeon makes a small incision in your neck for cosmetic purposes. It would eliminate all or a portion of your parathyroid glands based on your health.
Under the epidermis, sutures are used to seal the incision.
Parathyroid Surgery Types
Two types of parathyroid surgery are:
Focused parathyroidectomy –
In this method, the surgeon uses localisation tests to pinpoint the location of the sick parathyroid gland well before the operation and afterwards targets exactly that gland during the procedure.
Bilateral neck exploration –
With this method, the surgeon examines all four parathyroid glands by probing both sides of the neck. The surgeon chooses which parathyroid gland(s) to extract based on the parathyroids’ size, colour, and texture.
Both focused parathyroidectomy and bilateral neck exploration have benefits and drawbacks, but they are successful when carried out by a surgeon who is well-versed in both techniques.
Parathyroid Surgery Procedures
Four pea-sized parathyroid glands are situated within the neck next to the thyroid gland.
The parathyroid glands often usually function even when one or several are lodged elsewhere in the neck, like in the thyroid, the thymus, or the chest.
Despite having similar names, the thyroid and parathyroid glands are entirely different. Each produces unique hormones with specialised activities as part of the endocrine system that regulates bodily functions by secreting hormones.
The parathyroid glands’ job is to secrete parathyroid hormone (PTH), which enables the body’s calcium-to-phosphorus ratio to stay balanced.
When the blood calcium level drops too low, the parathyroid glands produce enough PTH to raise the blood calcium level. PTH regulates several processes related to calcium, including blood calcium levels, bone calcium release, gastrointestinal calcium absorption, and urinary calcium excretion.
Parathyroid Surgery Treatment
The treatment plan for primary hyperparathyroidism is the surgical removal of the enlarged parathyroid gland (or glands), which heals the condition in 95% of patients.
A minimally invasive parathyroidectomy method or an open parathyroidectomy could be used during surgery.
Wrap Up
PTH, produced by the parathyroid glands, controls the amount of calcium in the blood. PTH causes the calcium level in the blood to rise in other body cells, particularly in the bones, kidneys, or small intestines. Generally speaking, this control is exact. In the event that one or more parathyroid glands enlarge and produce excessive PTH, the blood calcium level will increase. Primary hyperparathyroidism is a disorder that develops whenever the blood calcium level is increased above average, and also the parathyroid glands fail to produce PTH as necessary to counter this rise. Surgery is the only treatment for this condition. Only 1% of the time is this condition cancer-related.
