UAB General Surgery Resident Rongzhi Wang, M.D., presented his research in secondary hyperparathyroidism at the 134th Annual Meeting of the Southern Surgical Association in December 2022.

 The manuscript of his presentation titled “Less is More: Parathyroidectomy and Association with Postoperative Hypocalcemia in Dialysis Patients” will be published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS).

Dr. Wang’s article was selected by the JACS editor for the award-winning CME program, and he was recently invited by the JACS Talking Points YouTube channel to discuss his research on dialysis patients.

His study focused on secondary hyperparathyroidism is nearly universal in dialysis patients. Parathyroidectomy is the most effective intervention for secondary hyperparathyroidism; however, there is no consensus on the preferred operative approach. Postoperative hypocalcemia is common in dialysis patients after parathyroidectomy.

Dr. Wang evaluated the effect of surgical approaches on postoperative hypocalcemia. In his study, he found that subtotal parathyroidectomy was associated with less postoperative hypocalcemia and provided similar surgical success for dialysis patients. His findings suggested that surgeons should consider subtotal parathyroidectomy for dialysis patients.

Click here to view the study.