[Nonrecurrent recurrent nerve. Danger in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Apropos of 9 cases]

Main difficulties in thyroid surgery are represented by recurrent nerve anatomy and parathyroid glands. Nerve injury or accidental truncation cause definitive impairment. Risk of recurrent paralysis is 0.5 to 3% for advanced teams. Early investigation and dissection of this nerve are considered mandatory for preservation. This practice is also highly indicated due to anatomical variations, cause for accidental truncation. The most difficult case is encountered when there is nerve non recurrence, due to variations in origin and path of the nerve. Inferior laryngeal nerve non recurrence can be present on the right side, it is uncommon but possible on the left side. We have evaluated a series of 1165 cervicotomies undertaken for thyroidectomy or parathyroid gland approach. There were 9 cases of non recurrence. Literature review allowed us to study anatomical variations and nerve relationships.