[Anatomic pitfalls of recurrent laryngeal nerve dissection]

Based on findings during 600 thyroid operations and pathological examination of 100 specimens, the principal difficulties encountered during dissection of the recurrent laryngeal nerve related to its anomalies and normal variations are discussed. Studied successively are variations in relations of the nerve with the inferior thyroid artery and its branches, the extralaryngeal bifurcations of the nerve, and the non-recurrence of the inferior laryngeal nerve.