Abstract
Program Description: Over the past several years new technologies, potentially offering safer or less invasive techniques, have been applied to surgery of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. While these technologies may offer benefits to surgeons and patients, each has an associated learning curve and incremental costs compared to the standard techniques. The purpose of this miniseminar is to examine some of these “advances” (in-office ultrasound, laryngeal nerve monitoring, intra-operative parathyroid hormone measurement, minimally invasive and alternate surgical approaches) and to evaluate the benefits and costs and provide guidance for when these technologies should properly be used. Additionally, guidance for how general otolaryngologists can learn these techniques and how these technologies relate to the concept of “standard-of-care” will be addressed. Audience participation will be used to solicit information about usage of these technologies among the membership and to obtain audience opinion to help facilitate discussion.
Educational Objectives: 1) Describe the indications for using new technology in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. 2) Understand the costs and benefits related to using new technology in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. 3) Determine further training necessary to incorporate new technology into practice.
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