Endocrine Surgery at St. Joseph Healthcare

HOME/Endocrine Focused Surgery Practice

Our endocrine surgeons specialize in surgery on the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands, as well as the endocrine pancreas. These glands help regulate hormones that control metabolism, calcium balance, blood pressure, and blood sugar.

Because these organs are small but vital, surgery requires precise techniques and extensive experience. Below are some of the most common endocrine operations our team performs.

Common endocrine operations

Adrenalectomy – Removal of one or both adrenal glands.
Parathyroidectomy – Removal of one or more parathyroid glands.
Thyroidectomy – Removal of the entire thyroid gland.
Thyroid lobectomy – Removal of one lobe (half) of the thyroid gland.
Total pancreatectomy – Removal of the entire pancreas (endocrine and exocrine), often including the gallbladder, part of the stomach and small intestine, and the spleen.

Endocrine Surgery vs. Endocrinology

Understanding the difference between endocrine surgery and endocrinology helps patients know where to begin in their care journey. While both specialties focus on disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal glands, and other hormone-producing tissues, their roles are distinct and complementary.

Endocrine Surgery

Endocrine surgeons specialize in operative treatment of hormonal gland disorders. Surgery is often recommended for conditions such as thyroid or parathyroid cancers, large nodules, adrenal tumors, and diseases that have not responded to medical therapy. Endocrine surgeons use minimally invasive and advanced surgical approaches to remove diseased tissue while protecting surrounding structures.

Endocrinology

Endocrinologists focus on the diagnosis and medical (non-surgical) management of endocrine diseases. They evaluate hormone imbalances, order specialized testing, and prescribe medication or long-term monitoring for conditions such as diabetes, thyroid dysfunction, osteoporosis, pituitary disorders, and metabolic disease.

Conditions our endocrine surgeons treat include:

Benign thyroid conditions such as nodules, cysts, and multinodular goiters.
Hyperthyroidism, including Graves’ disease, toxic adenomas, and other overactive thyroid conditions.
Thyroid cancers, including papillary, follicular, medullary, and metastatic thyroid cancer with lymph node involvement.
Parathyroid disorders, including primary, secondary, and tertiary hyperparathyroidism, overactive parathyroid, and parathyroid cancer.
Benign and cancerous adrenal tumors, including adrenal nodules, adenomas, aldosteronomas (Conn’s syndrome), pheochromocytomas, and solitary adrenal metastases.
Adrenal hormone disorders, including Cushing’s syndrome and other adrenal diseases.
Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndrome.

Treatments and procedures

Advanced and minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of endocrine conditions and tumors.
Surgeon-performed neck ultrasound for thyroid and parathyroid evaluation.
Thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies with expert pathology review.
Thyroid surgery, including partial thyroid lobectomy and total thyroidectomy.
Lymph node dissections for thyroid cancer with nodal involvement.
Minimally invasive parathyroid surgery.
Intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) monitoring during parathyroid procedures.
Laparoscopic and traditional open adrenal surgery.

Special services and diagnostic tests

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies of the thyroid.
Specialized staining and pathology evaluation of endocrine tumors.
Specialized radiologic evaluation of endocrine tumors.
Venous sampling to localize hormone‑producing tumors.
Nuclear medicine scanning of endocrine tumors.
Radioactive iodine ablation for differentiated thyroid cancer.
Thyroid and parathyroid surgery for benign and malignant disease.
Transsphenoidal and extended transsphenoidal resection of pituitary and skull‑base tumors.
Recombinant TSH injections to enhance thyroid cancer scanning and follow‑up.

Michael Starks, MD, is an experienced endocrine surgeon. He earned his medical degree at the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed his surgery residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. Dr. Starks is certified by the American Board of Surgery.