Surgical Anatomy of the Parathyroid Glands

Since its discovery by Owen in 1850 and in 1880 its name by Sandstrom, to understand the functional value of the parathyroid glands, by Mc Callum and Voegtlin, spent half a century. From these historical events, the study of these glands was becoming important. It is known that not only the anatomical preservation of the gland is important to preserve function, but also its irrigation. It is a study of the anatomy of these glandular structures and its feeding vessels with intraoperative findings in total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter and cadaveric dissections. The aim of this paper was to study the location of the parathyroid glands as well as irrigation of them, determining the origin and course of the parathyroid arteries.Descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study, with analytical component. We analyzed 93 totalthyroidectomy for multinodular goiter and dissection of 12 cadavers.Of the 173 superior parathyroid glands (SPG) found in the surgical procedure in 112 (65%) were described its location, in 28%could identify the feeder vessel. Of the 186 inferior parathyroid glands (IPG), in 126 (68%) could be described location and in 39% could be found its artery. The cadaveric dissections findings showed higher.The location and the change of color play an important role in the identification of the glands. In our surgical serie IPG were the most frequently found, both found in all cases, while in cadaveric dissections four glands were not found. The low percentage of findings of the arteries would be directly related to the study method usedThe study of these anatomical structures may have been more efficient by using other methods of study, but these data are all helpful for surgical applicability.