The Safety and Efficacy of Surgery for Primary Hyperparathyroidism without Intraoperative Parathyroid Hormone Measurement in Japan

Abstract

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) is a curable disease because most patients have only one adenoma and can fully recover after adenoma removal at the location determined by preoperative imaging. However, many Japanese surgeons believe that intraoperative intact PTH measurement (IOPM) is essential to the surgery. Hence, many general surgeons in Japan are unable to perform surgeries for PHP in their local hospitals and must refer the patients to urban high volume centers that have introduced IOPM, even though they are experienced in general surgery and the surgery for PHP is technically simple and related to general surgery. So, we analyzed the relationship of surgical outcomes, with and without IOPM.