Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026
Identification and Protection of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve during Transoral Robotic Thyroidectomy
Published on: October 24, 2025
The role of immediate recurrent laryngeal nerve reconstruction for thyroid cancer surgery
Tetsuji Sanuki1, Eiji Yumoto, Ryosei Minoda
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
Abstract:
Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) is one of the most serious problems in conducting surgery for thyroid cancer. Different treatments are available for the management of UVFP including intracordal injection, type I thyroplasty, arytenoid adduction, and laryngeal reinnervations. The effects of immediate recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) reconstruction during thyroid cancer surgery with or without UVFP before the surgery were evaluated with videostroboscopic, aerodynamic, and perceptual analyses. All subjects experienced postoperative improvements in voice quality. Particularly, aerodynamic analysis showed that the values for all patients entered normal ranges in both patients with and without UVFP before surgery. Immediate RLN reconstruction has the potential to restore a normal or near-normal voice by returning thyroarytenoid muscle tone and bulk seen with vocal fold denervation. Immediate RLN reconstruction is an efficient and effective approach to the management of RLN resection during surgery for thyroid cancer.
