ABSTRACT
The incidence of Non-recurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) is reported to be 0.6%-0.8% on the right side and in 0.004% on the left side. Damage to this nerve during thyroidectomy may lead to vocal cord complications and should therefore be prevented. A middle-aged woman with a nodular goiter who underwent subtotal thyroidectomy for multinodular colloid goiter. We encountered a non-recurrent laryngeal nerve on the right side in a patient during surgery. We were not able to find the inferior laryngeal nerve in its usual position using the customary anatomical landmarks. Instead, it was emerging directly from the right vagus nerve at a right angle and entering the larynx as a unique non-bifurcating nerve. Nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve incidence is very rare, but when present, increases the risk of damage during thyroidectomy. Hence, it is very important to be aware of the anatomical variations of the inguinal lymph node (ILN) and the use of safe meticulous dissection while looking for the nerve during thyroidectomy. The use of Intra-operative neuro-monitoring (IONM) if available in thyroid surgery allows the surgeon to recognize and differentiate branches of the inferior laryngeal nerve (ILN) from sympathetic anastomoses, as well as NRLN during surgery.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the efficacy and value of intra-operative neuromonitoring (IONM) in preventing,identifying and repairing recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (RLNI) during thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy.Methods Data were collected from a series (n =351) of patients operated in our department between Jan 2015 and Dec 2017.Results With IONM navigation a total of 460 recurrent laryngeal nerves were identified during surgery.Anatomic variations were found in 6 cases,3 were non-recurrent laryngeal nerve.Others were morphological branching variation.There were 4 cases of temporary RLNI,all were unilateral.Total temporary RLNI rate was 1.1％.All 4 cases recovered completely in 3 months after surgery.Complete transection injury of RLN were found in 2 cases,one underwent immediate nerve anastomosis,with the voice significantly improved in 6 months.The total permanent RLNI rate was 0.5％.There was no hoarseness after operation in patients with normal IONM signal.The incidence of vocal cord paralysis was 57.14％ in patients with loss of IONM signal but normal appearance of RLN.Use of IONM did not increase operation time.Conclusions IONM had significant advantages in recognition of RLN,repair of intraoperative RLNI and prediction of postoperative voice condition,which could improve the safety of surgery.