Intraoperative neuromonitoring in identification of non-recurrent laryngeal nerve: experience of 6 cases / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To find new way to reduce non-recurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) injuries by applying intraoperative neuromonitoring(IONM) to identify NRLN in thyroidectomy. Methods Records of 279 patients who underwent complex thyroidectomy by applying IONM to identify and monitor RLN from Mar. 2009 to Jan. 2010 were veviewed. We proposed the skills to identify and monitor NRLN and predict RLN varition through exploring vagus nerve and RLN before RLN dissection. Results 6 cases NRLN located on the right side were all accurately identified by IONM, thus no injury of NRLN occurred during thyroid operations. Conclusions NRLN is difficult to be predicted preoperatively and identified by naked eyes. The application of IONM to predict, identify and monitor NRLN could remarkably reduce the possibility of NRLN injury.