A new method for intraoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve monitoring

The recurrent laryngeal nerve is at risk of iatrogenic injury during surgical procedures in which its anatomical location is exposed. Borrowing from biotechnology currently available for facial nerve monitoring, we have developed a method of electrophysiologically assessing the function of the recurrent laryngeal nerve during technically difficult neck surgeries. Electromyographic as well as nerve action potential recordings are monitored using the Xomed-Treace Nerve Integrity Monitor-2 (NIM-2). This method differs from those previously published in that it is much less cumbersome and time-consuming. The technique as well as an illustrative case are reported.