Transoral robotic-assisted surgical excision of a retropharyngeal parathyroid adenoma: A case report

Background Transoral robotic surgery has been used with increasing frequency for oropharyngeal malignancies. We present the first known case of a transoral robotic-assisted parathyroidectomy. Methods/Results A 77-year-old woman with primary hyperparathyroidism was suspected of having a parathyroid adenoma. After several nonlocalizing single photon emission CT/CT sestamibi scans, a neck ultrasound revealed a suspicious low level 6 nodule. Surgical excision of this nodule proved to be a reactive lymph node. She then had a dynamic parathyroid protocol MRI and CT, which revealed a small retropharyngeal adenoma candidate. A transoral robotic-assisted surgical approach was utilized to bluntly dissect the retropharyngeal space just above the arytenoids to excise the nodule. After excision, the intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) normalized and surgical pathology confirmed parathyroid adenoma. Conclusion Transoral robotic-assisted surgery is a novel technique that can be utilized for resection of a parathyroid adenoma in the retropharyngeal space.