Secondary hyperparathyroidism (sHPT) occurs most commonly in the setting of chronic renal failure (CRF) being frequently referred to as “renal” hyperparathyroidism The “classical” medical treatment with oral calcium and vitamin D supplementation is generally sufficient to lower parathyroid hormone levels in the majority of these patients. However, we frequently encounter cases of severe refractory sHPT, a state in which even recently available therapeutic agents, i.e. calcimimetics, new phosphate binders, vitamin D analogues, remain inefficient, thus parathyroidectomy and/ or renal transplant becoming necessary. Three types of surgeries have been proposed in sHPT: two of them are grouped as remnant-conserving techniques, i.e. subtotal parathyroidectomy (sPtx) and total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation (tPtx+AT), the third one being total parathyroidectomy without autotransplantation (tPtx). There was a continuous debate concerning the best surgical approach in renal hyperparathyroidism, starting very soon after those techniques were described; without pretending to solve these controversies, this paper aims to review the surgical treatment options in sHPT, based on our 5-year experience in dealing with the disease.