First Affiliated Hospital of Peking University, China

Background A quick point-of-care technique to confirm parathyroid tissue during parathyroidectomy and an alternative to frozen section is ex vivo suction of parathyroid glands for the determination of intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) levels (FS). In this investigation, it was determined whether endocrine surgeons were aware of and used this approach. Resources and techniques All 608 American Association of Endocrine Surgeons members received a de-identified 12-question survey about methods for intraoperative identification/confirmation of parathyroid tissue and the use of IOPTH monitoring. Results Only 12 (7%) of the 182 (30%) respondents used ex vivo aspiration, the second most popular primary technique, followed by FS, which was used by 115 (63%) respondents to confirm parathyroid tissue. even though 78 (42%) were knowledgeable of the method. The main justifications for using the primary technique were accessibility and familiarity; the main obstacle was time. 124 (74%) patients routinely used serum IOPTH monitoring. Serum IOPTH monitoring was regularly used by 75% (86/115) of those who used FS, including 71% (45/63) of those who said time was a barrier to FS. Only 15 (33%) of these 45 were knowledgeable about ex vivo parathyroid aspiration. Only 48% of surgeons were aware of the PTH sample price. Conclusions The most popular technique for locating and validating parathyroid tissue was FS. Despite the fact that the majority of respondents regularly did IOPTH monitoring, only a small percentage used ex vivo aspiration to identify parathyroids, and less than 50% were familiar with this method.

Parathyroidectomy, Parathyroid confirmation, Intraoperative parathyroid hormone monitoring, Ex vivo parathyroid aspiration, Endocrine surgeons

Situmo Zhang. Are Surgeons Aware of New and Novel Techniques for Parathyroid Tissue Confirmation?. Insights Journal of Surgery and Clinical Case Reports 2021.