Parathyroid glands are very small. You may need to have tests that show exactly where your glands are. This will help your surgeon find your parathyroid glands during surgery. Two of the tests you may have are a CT scan and an ultrasound.

Before surgery, an anesthesiologist will review your medical history with you and decide what type of anesthesia to use. The anesthesiologist is the doctor who will give you the medicine that makes you asleep and pain-free during surgery and who monitors you during surgery.

Fill any prescriptions for pain medicine and calcium you will need after surgery.

Several days to a week before surgery, you may be asked to stop taking drugs that make it harder for your blood to clot. These include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), clopidogrel (Plavix), warfarin (Coumadin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), and other drugs like these.

You will probably be asked to stop eating or drinking at least 6 hours before surgery.

Ask your doctor which medicines you should still take the day of surgery.

If you smoke, try to stop. Your recovery time will be shorter if you do not smoke. Ask your doctor or nurse for help.

Your doctor or nurse will tell you when to arrive at the hospital.

Often, people can go home the same day they have surgery. You can start your everyday activities in a few days. It will take about 1 to 3 weeks for you to fully heal.

There are usually no sutures to be removed. However, the surgery area must be kept clean and dry. You may need to drink liquids and eat soft foods for a day.

Numbness or tingling around your mouth in the 24 to 48 hours after surgery is caused by low calcium. You can take calcium supplements every 4 hours until the symptoms go away.

After this procedure, you should have routine blood tests to check your calcium level.

People usually recover very quickly after this surgery. Recovery is fastest when less invasive techniques are used.

Sometimes, another surgery is needed to remove more of the parathyroid glands.

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Parathyroidectomy

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Review Date: 11/05/2010
Reviewed By: Shabir Bhimji MD, PhD, Specializing in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Midland, TX. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)