Preoperative localization of parathyroid tumours does not reduce operating time

Accurate preoperative localization of abnormal parathyroid glands might be expected to result in a reduction in operating time. To test this hypothesis the duration of surgery was recorded in a consecutive series of 50 patients who underwent neck exploration after preoperative localization by thallium‐201 and technetium‐99m subtraction scanning and were found to have parathyroid tumours. A total of 34 patients had accurate localization by the scan, and these patients had a median operating time of 90 min. When the tumour had not been localized before operation, the median operating time was not significantly different (80 min). Accurate preoperative localization of parathyroid tumours does not reduce operating time.