Novel method to save the parathyroid gland during thyroidectomy: Subcapsular saline injection
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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Establishment of a Simple and Effective Rat Model for Intraoperative Parathyroid Gland Imaging
Published on: August 17, 2022
June Young Choi1,2, Hyeong Won Yu1, In Eui Bae1
1Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea.
Background:
Saving the parathyroid gland during thyroidectomy remains challenging. Subcapsular saline injection (SCASI) was developed in February 2015. Its ability to spare the parathyroid gland was assessed.
Methods:
All consecutive patients who underwent total thyroidectomy with or without neck lymph node dissection in 2013-2015 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Patients were divided into the SCASI and non-SCASI groups. Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels were measured on day 1 and 6 months after surgery. Transient and permanent hypoparathyroidism were defined as day 1 and 6 month PTH < 10.0 and <15.0 pg/mL, respectively.
Results:
The groups (both had 98 patients each) did not differ in demographics, tumor size, operation extent, pathology, thyroiditis rate, and incidental parathyroid gland excision rate. Compared with non-SCASI patients, patients who underwent the SCASI method exhibited transient hypoparathyroidism (35.7% vs 19.4%, P < .001) and permanent hypoparathyroidism (4.1% vs 0%, P = .043) significantly less frequently.
Conclusion:
The procedure of SCASI effectively spared the parathyroid gland during thyroidectomy.
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