Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026
Identification and Protection of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve during Transoral Robotic Thyroidectomy
Published on: October 24, 2025
[Nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve: review of 13 cases]
J Vallicioni1, M Ndiaye, G Poissonnet
1Département d'Oto-Rhino-Laryngologie et de chirurgie de la face et du cou, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, 33 avenue de Valombrose, 06189 Nice Cedex. vallinice@wanadoo.fr
Objective:
This study reviews a rare and poorly understood anatomic anomaly of the thyroid region: non-recurrence of the inferior laryngeal nerve.
Method:
We describe thirteen cases of non-recurrence of the laryngeal nerve observed during 2128 surgical procedures on the thyroid gland.
Results:
The malformation was right-sided in all thirteen patients (11 women, 2 men) and occurred at a frequency of 0.4% of all of the nerves explored. Only two complications were noted in this series of 13 cases: one case of temporary paresis and one case of irreversible vocal cord paralysis.
Conclusion:
A rare although not exceptional occurrence, non-recurrence of the inferior laryngeal nerve is an anomaly that Head and Neck surgeons should be familiar with so as to avoid nerve damage that can result in irreversible vocal cord paralysis.
