In recent years, the number of thyroid surgeries has been increasing annually. Accurate identification and preservation of the parathyroid glands during surgery have always been important clinical concerns in thyroid surgery. In most cases, surgeons rely on subjective experience during surgery to identify the parathyroid glands, which can lead to inadvertent damage and subsequent hypoparathyroidism. Currently, the use of intraoperative near-infrared fluorescence imaging technique for parathyroid identification has become a hot topic in thyroid surgery research. Here, the authors provide a review of related studies.