Dr. Frankenstein is given instructions to remove the thyroid gland of a patient

Question

Dr. Frankenstein is given instructions to remove the thyroid gland of a patient suffering from a thyroid tumor. It has been a while since he attended medical school, but he goes ahead with his surgery with full confidence. After surgery is over, they send the removed tissue to the pathologist. After the pathology report is turned in to the hospital, Dr. Frankenstein is placed under investigation for surgical incompetence. He made a grave error in his hasty dissection of the gland. Based on your knowledge of the location of the major endocrine organs of the body, can you venture a guess as to what this grave error was?

Explanation / Answer

The most likely error occured is the removal of the parathyroid gland along with the thyroid gland. The parathyroid gland is attached to the back of the thyroid gland and are easy to miss. They constitute a smaller volume but have the important function of maintaining calcium levels in the blood.

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