[Recurrent laryngeal nerve and inferior thyroid artery. Anatomo-surgical considerations]

Among the diverse complications of thyroidectomy, it is mostly the cordial sequels from the recurrent laryngeal nerve damage. This is why anatomical and surgical considerations are made upon the vulnerable areas of this nerve and the circumstances in which it is damaged. The relationship between the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the inferior thyroid artery, location most frequently injured, was investigated on 55 adult formulated cadavers. It was found that on the right side in 54.5% the nerve passes behind the artery, in 38.1% it passes in front of it, and between its terminal branches in 7.2%. Regarding the left side, in 67.2% the nerve passes behind the artery, in 27.2% it does so in front of it, and in 5.4% between its terminal branches; being the right nerve more anterior an lateral than the left one which would possibly explain the higher index of nervous damage on this side.