Endocrine Surgery Specialist

Why might I need endocrine surgery?

Endocrine surgery might be necessary if you have a disorder affecting one of the glands that make up your endocrine system. Glands produce hormones, essential chemicals that carry messages around your body to regulate vital functions, such as growth and development, metabolism, and reproduction.

Hormones play a role in everything from tissue repair after an injury to appetite, libido, and your response to stress. They also trigger major changes like sexual development in puberty and menopause.

The glands that produce hormones are the:

• Thyroid       
• Parathyroid
• Adrenals
• Pancreas
• Ovaries
• Testes
• Hypothalamus
• Pineal
• Pituitary
• Thymus

Injuries and diseases in any of these glands can affect the delicate balance of hormones in your body. Some symptoms of hormone imbalance are distressing, such as an increase in the growth of bodily hair, but not dangerous. Other symptoms, such as chronic fatigue and weight fluctuations, can have more of an impact and affect your quality of life.

If you have a condition that's causing severe or potentially life-threatening symptoms, you might need to undergo endocrine surgery.

What conditions might require endocrine surgery?

Many types of hormone imbalance are treatable with lifestyle changes, hormone supplementation, and other medications. Good examples of this are diabetes and hypothyroidism. However, there are some endocrine conditions for which these methods aren't appropriate.

Endocrine disorders that might require surgery include:

• Goiters
• Hyperthyroidism
• Thyroid cancer
• Adrenal gland tumors
• Pancreatic endocrine tumors
• Parathyroid adenoma
• Parathyroid hyperplasia

Dr. Sambandam works closely with your endocrinologist to ensure you receive the optimal outcomes from endocrine surgery.

What does endocrine surgery involve?

The type of endocrine surgery you require depends on the cause of your disorder. If you have cancer, Dr. Sambandam is likely to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue, which might mean extracting the entire gland.

Removing one of multiple glands, like the parathyroids, causes the remaining gland to increase hormone production to compensate. However, if you have to undergo endocrine surgery to remove a single gland, such as a thyroidectomy for an overactive thyroid gland, you would need to take supplementary hormones from then on.

Dr. Sambandam specializes in endocrine surgery for thyroid and parathyroid conditions. The parathyroid glands are four small glands on the outside of your thyroid. They help to regulate calcium and phosphorus levels in your blood. Parathyroid surgery removes abnormal glands that are causing excessively high calcium levels.

To find out more about endocrine surgery and how you could benefit from Dr. Sambandam's experience in treating endocrine system disorders, call North Tarrant Health Providers today or book an appointment online.