{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T16:53:53Z","timestamp":1790787233173,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762300800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and objectives: The identification and preservation of the parathyroid glands (PGs) are of paramount importance in thyroid surgery. Permanent hypoparathyroidism represents a significant post-operative complication that may result from the surgeon\u2019s failure to accurately identify the PGs or their associated blood supply. Post-operative hypocalcemia (POH) represents the most common surgical complication following thyroid surgery and is the primary factor influencing the post-operative course, causing the requirement of frequent electrolyte monitoring and of supportive therapies, precluding the possibility of early discharge, and resulting also in significant healthcare costs. Near-infrared autofluorescence (NIRAF) employs the intrinsic capacity of PGs to emit fluorescent light when exposed to light within the NIR spectrum. In the context of thyroid surgery, NIRAF represents a safe method with no documented risks to the patient. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 383 patients who underwent thyroid surgery at our Institution, either with (n = 27) or without (n = 356) intraoperative NIRAF, focusing on its efficacy in reducing the incidence of POH. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the systematic integration of NIRAF within non-high-capacity centres for cervical surgery, owing to its usefulness in identifying PGs intraoperatively, may strongly contribute to a reduction in the incidence of POH (45.8% without vs. 18.5% with NIRAF; p = 0.0078). This, in turn, has the potential to contribute to a decrease in overall healthcare expenditure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina61111985","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T13:19:29Z","timestamp":1762348769000},"page":"1985","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Identification of Parathyroid Glands Through Near-Infrared Autofluorescence During Thyroid Surgery: Retrospective Analysis of the Impact on Post-Operative Hypocalcemia Rate Reduction and Potential Improvement of Healthcare Expenditure"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"61","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4071-7706","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Davide","family":"Inversini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"General, Emergency and Transplant Surgery Department, ASST Settelaghi, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation (DiMIT), University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-3515-8201","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matteo","family":"Zanchetta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-9006-5785","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Niccol\u00f2 Enrico","family":"Perego","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Palillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General, Emergency and Transplant Surgery Department, ASST Settelaghi, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caterina","family":"Franchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General, Emergency and Transplant Surgery Department, ASST Settelaghi, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6109-8940","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Enrico","family":"Ferri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General, Emergency and Transplant Surgery Department, ASST Settelaghi, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5029-8173","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Ietto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General, Emergency and Transplant Surgery Department, ASST Settelaghi, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation (DiMIT), University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5260-615X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giulio","family":"Carcano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General, Emergency and Transplant Surgery Department, ASST Settelaghi, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation (DiMIT), University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"144","article-title":"Identification of patients at high risk for hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy","volume":"31","author":"Tredici","year":"2011","journal-title":"Acta Otorhinolaryngol. 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