Locoregional vs. General Anaesthesia for Minimally Invasive Video-Assisted Parathyroidectomy (MIVAP) Using Propensity Score Matching Analysis: A Feasibility Study

Focused parathyroidectomy is the preferred surgical method for treating primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) sustained by the pre-operatively well-localized parathyroid adenoma. We aimed to compare the effectiveness, safety, and short-term clinical outcome of minimally invasive video-assisted parathyroidectomy (MIVAP) in locoregional anaesthesia (LA) vs. general anaesthesia (GA) by means of propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. Retrospective research of patients who underwent MIVAP between January 2014 and December 2022 was carried out. Patients were divided into two groups based on the anaesthesiologic procedure (LA vs. GA). Overall, 553 patients underwent MIVAP. After PSM, 115 patients in the LA group and 230 patients in the GA group were included. MIVAP under LA was associated with shorter median operative time (16 vs. 35 min, p < 0.001), shorter median operative room occupation time (44 vs. 73 min, p < 0.001), and lesser median post-operative visual analogue scale pain, with comparable post-operative hospital stay and complication rate. MIVAP under LA is a safe and feasible procedure with significant advantages over GA in terms of post-operative pain and operative room occupation time. This last step can finally result in more efficient utilisation of the operative room and the health care system’s resources.