A study of routine exposure of recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery

One of the main complications of thyroid surgery is injury to recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), which causes severe morbidity to the patient in postoperative period. To find out the incidence of RLN injury and its consequences, a prospective study was done in a group of 142 cases during the years 1999-2000. Different types of thyroidectomies for various diseases lbw of the thyroid gland, wherein a routine identification and exposure of the P-R was done through out its full course till its entry into the larynx at cricothyroid membrane. Three cases of temporary RLN injury were found and not a single case of permanent nerve injury was seen during our study. Three cases of nonre current LN were found on the right side of the gland. The temporary injury of the nerve completely recovered during 2-5 months of follow-up. We present some reviews of the literature to provide various authors, views and experiences regarding injury of RLN associated with thyroid urgery.