Advanced Technologies for Parathyroid Surgery

Surgically removing overactive parathyroid glands is a highly effective way to treat parathyroid disease. But parathyroid surgery is a complex procedure that requires expertise — and a high-tech approach — to be successful.

At Henry Ford Health, our parathyroid surgeons work with each patient to carefully tailor treatment to their specific needs. Depending on your needs, we may use certain tools or techniques to make your surgery safer and less invasive.

Surgical technologies we use

Our parathyroid specialists use advanced surgical technologies to ensure that each parathyroid procedure has safe and successful outcomes.

Ultrasound

Ultrasound is an important tool to accurately diagnose and pinpoint overactive parathyroid glands. We also use this imaging technology to help guide our minimally invasive surgeries.

Intraoperative parathyroid hormone monitoring

The goal of parathyroid surgery is to lower the level of parathyroid hormone in the blood and return your calcium to normal levels. We use intraoperative parathyroid hormone monitoring during surgery. This testing allows us to know immediately if gland removal is successful and confirms that you are cured even before surgery is complete.

Nerve monitoring

The nerves that control the voice box (laryngeal nerves) run behind the thyroid gland, near the parathyroid glands. One of the main risks of parathyroid surgery is injury to these nerves.

We greatly minimize this risk by constantly monitoring the nerves during surgery. Our surgeons check nerve function throughout the procedure to ensure a better outcome.

Minimally invasive video-assisted surgery

We use endoscopes (thin tubes) with a light and high-definition camera attached to provide detailed images during surgery. This allows our surgeons to locate and remove an overactive parathyroid gland using only a single, tiny incision.