Endocrinology is the study of endocrine glands. Endocrine glands are a group of glands in the body which secrete hormones. Endocrine surgery has steadily evolved from relative obscurity into a well-defined subdiscipline of general surgery. Which specializes in the surgical treatment of endocrine diseases including the thyroid gland, the parathyroid glands, the adrenal glands, glands of the endocrine pancreas, and some neuroendocrine glands. Endocrinologists and endocrine surgeons typically work closely together to provide the most advantageous care to patients afflicted with endocrine disorders.
And the surgery include:
Thyroid Surgery:
Surgery of the thyroid gland constitutes the bulk of endocrine surgical procedures worldwide ranging from benign multinodular goiter to thyroid cancer.
Parathyroid surgery:
Removal of the parathyroid gland(s) is referred to as parathyroidectomy, usually performed for primary hyperparathyroidism.
Adrenal surgery:
Adrenalectomy, i.e surgical removal of the adrenal gland is done in conditions like Conn syndrome, pheochromocytoma, adreno-cortical cancer etc.
Pancreatic surgery:
Diseases of the endocrine pancreas occur very infrequently; these include insulinomas, gastrinomas etc. Surgery for these conditions range from simple tumor enucleation to more larger resections.
Surgeons perform a range of endocrine procedures, including:
Thyroid ultrasound and fine needle aspiration, Thyroid lobectomy, Total thyroidectomy, Lymph node excision, Parathyroidectomy, Laparoscopic adrenalectomy, Sistrunk procedure, Treatment of recurrent and advanced thyroid cancers, Intraoperative nerve monitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerves, Ethyl alcohol (ETOH) ablation, etc.
Minimally invasive surgery is one of the standard for routine adrenalectomy; minimally invasive parathyroidectomy is becoming a standard with the traditional bilateral exploratory procedures; minimally invasive thyroidectomy is still more hype than standard of treatment. As localisation and minimally invasive techniques continue to evolve, we will see the frontier of minimally invasive endocrine surgery continue to advance. It is well established that complications are much less common if performed by surgeons who do at least 100 thyroid operations per year.