Prospective Audit and Review of Parathyroid Surgery in Rural Setting

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Recently Endocrine multidisciplinary team (MDT) has greatly influenced the care of such patient and has helped in improving the outcome and reducing the complications related with surgery. We conducted a review of prospectively collected data of all consecutive parathyroidectomies carried out in our district general hospital between October 2016 and Jan 2020 by a single surgeon. The collected data include patient’s characteristics, laboratory results, radiological findings and operative outcomes. There were 53 parathyroidectomies performed during this period for PHPT. Mean age of patients was 75 years. Our results demonstrated a reduction in post-operative PTH in 46 patients (92%). We have identified no cases of vocal cord palsy, significant neck haemorrhage or mortality. 6 patients had temporary hypocalcaemia and 2 patients had hungry bone syndrome. Patient selection and evaluation for parathyroidectomies under endocrine MDT has greatly influenced the outcome for our patients. We had low complication rate and surgery was done at a more convenient location for selected patients. We benefit from dedicated monthly parathyroid clinic and weekly endocrine multidisciplinary team meetings to assist with patient selection and optimisation. A team effort helps in reducing complications and improving outcomes. We feel that surgery can be provided safely and successfully in a district general hospital in rural settings.