Open mini-incision parathyroidectomy for solitary parathyroid adenoma

Parathyroid surgery is the acceptable definitive treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) due to parathyroid adenoma. Open mini-incision parathyroidectomy (O-MIP) has an excellent cure rate and minimal morbidity. We aim to demonstrate the safety, efficacy and subjective patient satisfaction of O-MIP and investigate the accuracy of pre-operative radiological localisation in relation to operative findings. A retrospective review of patients who underwent O-MIP for pHPT due to solitary parathyroid adenoma from April 2006 to August 2012 was performed. All patients were initially investigated by an endocrinologist to confirm pHPT with pre-operative localisation imaging using ultrasound scan (USS) and 99mTc-sestamibi (MIBI). One hundred and fifty consecutive patients were included with a median age of 62 years. Pre-operative USS and MIBI scans were concordant in 71 % of cases. In combined modality (USS and MIBI), localisation was 94.8 % accurate. There was 95.5 % identification of parathyroid tissue confirmed by intra-operative frozen section. Ninety-one percent of patients were treated as a day case. The median operative time was 60 min. The mean pre-operative calcium level was 2.98 mmol/l, and the short-to-medium term mean calcium level was 2.49 (Paired t test, p < 0.001). There was no significant complication. O-MIP confers significant advantages over the traditional gold standard treatment of bilateral neck exploration. Accurate localisation is the key to successful O-MIP. In experienced hands, ultrasound and MIBI may be the only pre-operative investigations required for accurate localisation.