Inferior Parathyroid Gland Preservation In Situ during Central Neck Dissection for Thyroid Papillary Carcinoma

Abstract

Hypoparathyroidism is the most common and a potentially serious complication of thyroid surgery; therefore, it becomes very important for thyroid surgeons to preserve the parathyroid glands in situ during the thyroid operation. Because of the application of “meticulous capsular dissection,” the problem about how to preserve the parathyroid gland in thyroidectomy has become minor. Because inferior parathyroid glands enjoy a more variable position in the adult neck and they are located in the area of central neck lymph node dissection, how to preserve them in situ during central neck dissection is regarded as a major problem. To solve it, a new operation concept, “a layer of thymusblood vessel-inferior parathyroid gland,” is mainly introduced in this chapter.