The significance of exposure of recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroid surgery / 中国普通外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the significance of dissection and exposure of the recurrent laryngeal nerve(RLN) in thyroid surgery.Methods The clinical data of 1 082 patients who had undergone operations on thyroid were retrospectively reviewed.All cases were routinely operated with dissection and exposure of RLN.Results Six cases had injury of RLN(0.5%),3 cases showed parathyroid insufficiency(0.3%)and 2 cases had injury of the superior laryngeal nerve(0.2%) ofter operation.The incidence of operative complications in thyroid surgery was closely related with if exposure of the RLN.Conclusions Exposure of the recurrent laryngeal nerve is a key measure to decrease injury of parathyroids,superior laryngeal nerve and recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery.