Direct mini-incision parathyroidectomy.

We describe our technique for performing a mini-incision parathyroidectomy in patients with hyperparathyroidism. Since our procedure differs from conventional parathyroidectomy in requiring a 2- or 3-cm skin incision and no raising of skin flap, this technique resulted in a good cosmetic status and less invasiveness. Hypesthesia or paresthesia in the neck and discomfort while swallowing related to a large skin incision and raising of skin flap are minimized. Although the cosmetic results of endoscopic techniques are better than those of our procedures, endoscopic instruments remain traumatic, can easily inflict iatrogenic lesions to parathyroid adenomas and enhance the risk of tumor cell exfoliation, especially if the parathyroid adenoma is manipulated by the instruments. Our surgical procedure can be less technically demanding and time-consuming. Although the number of patients whom we have treated in this manner is still small, we believe that our new procedure constitutes a useful surgical treatment for hyperparathyroidism.