What’s in a Name? Providing Clarity in the Definition of Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy: Reply

Excerpt

We read with interest the letter to the Editor by Drs. Rajan and Agarwal commenting on our study “What’s in a Name? Providing Clarity in the Definition of Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy.” We very much appreciate the thoughtful comments from these doctors’ review of our study. We believe our study was important because the term “minimally invasive” has lost its value in the context of parathyroidectomy. This led us to create a new terminology to address this confusion. The terms included were based on the extensive literature search performed in our study. Our goal was to limit the bias in creating new terminology to replace the term “minimally invasive parathyroidectomy.” Our search yielded four main categories: operative approach (open including incision size, endoscopic, video-assisted, or robotic); number of glands explored (i.e., whether the surgeon routinely performs a four-gland exploration or not); operative adjuncts (ioPTH, radio-guidance), and anesthesia type (general or local anesthetic). …