Recurrent laryngeal nerve landmarks during thyroidectomy

Abstract

The anatomical relations of the recurrent laryngeal nerve with the inferior thyroid artery were very inconstant in this series and were predominantly retrovascular or transvascular in relation to the branches of the artery. The presence of extralaryngeal branches and modification of the course of the nerve by thyroid disease also introduced additional difficulties during recurrent laryngeal nerve dissection. The anatomical relations of the right recurrent laryngeal nerve in this African population differ from the classically described prevascular course.

The Non-Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve: a meta-analysis and clinical considerations

“…A total of 53 studies ( n  = 53,577 total nerves; 33,571 Right RLNs and 20,006 Left RLNs) were included: 35 intraoperative, 17 cadaveric and 1 imaging (CT) (Reed, 1943; Wade, 1955; Hunt, Poole & Reeve, 1968; Stewart, Mountain & Colcock, 1972; Skandalakis et al, 1976; Papadatos, 1978; Proye et al, 1982; Flament, Delattre & Palot, 1983; Henry et al, 1988; Menck, Grüber & Lierse, 1990; Lekacos et al, 1992; Freschi et al, 1994; Moreau et al, 1998; Sasou, Nakamura & Kurihara, 1998; Sturniolo et al, 1999; Campos & Henriques, 2000; Raffaelli, Iacobone & Henry, 2000; Watanabe et al, 2001; Watanabe et al, 2016; Monfared, Gorti & Kim, 2002; Page, Foulon & Strunski, 2003; Hermans et al, 2003; Ardito et al, 2004; Toniato et al, 2004; Spartà et al, 2004; Sciumè et al, 2005; Shindo, Wu & Park, 2005; Beneragama & Serpell, 2006; Maranillo et al, 2008; Makay et al, 2008; Serpell, Yeung & Grodski, 2009; Lee et al, 2009; Sunanda, Tilakeratne & De Silva, 2010; Shao et al, 2010; Wang et al, 2011; Kaisha, Wobenjo & Saidi, 2011; Kandil et al, 2011; Pradeep, Jayashree & Harshita, 2012; Chiang et al, 2012; Tang et al, 2012; Benouaich et al, 2012; Asgharpour et al, 2012; Silva, Siqueira & Arruda, 2013; Donatini, Carnaille & Dionigi, 2013; Satoh et al, 2013; Cai et al, 2013; Hong, Park & Yang, 2014; Yang et al, 2014; Han, Bai & Lu, 2015; Dolezel et al, 2015; Iacobone et al, 2015; Buła et al, 2015; Ngo Nyeki et al, 2015; Barczyński et al, 2015). The dates of the included studies spanned the period from 1943 to 2016.…”

“…The prevalence of the NRLN has been reported numerous times with rates ranging from 0% to 4.76% (Menck, Grüber & Lierse, 1990; Freschi et al, 1994; Moreau et al, 1998; Sasou, Nakamura & Kurihara, 1998; Sturniolo et al, 1999; Monfared, Gorti & Kim, 2002; Page, Foulon & Strunski, 2003; Makay et al, 2008; Lee et al, 2009; Kandil et al, 2011; Benouaich et al, 2012; Ngo Nyeki et al, 2015). It is essential to obtain accurate anatomical data on the NRLN if patients with this anomaly are to be assessed properly for surgical candidacy and operative planning.…”

Variable relationship of the recurrent laryngeal nerve to the inferior thyroid artery: A meta‐analysis and surgical implications

“…The characteristics of the studies included in the meta‐analysis are summarized in Table , which shows the prevalence of each type of RLN to ITA relationship. A total of 79 studies ( n = 14,269 nerves) were included, among which 18 were intraoperative, 60 were cadaveric, and 1 included both intraoperative and cadaveric groups. Among the intraoperative studies, 5 were prospective and 14 were retrospective.…”

Does methylene blue help in the early identification of the recurrent laryngeal nerve?

“…Nyeki ARN et al 13 considered various anatomical landmarks for the identifi cation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in relation to different important surrounding structures. He also highlighted the variability of the …”