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Case Reports
. 2013 Feb;4(2):237-40.

Identifying the Non-recurrent Laryngeal Nerve: Preventing a Major Risk of Morbidity During Thyroidectomy

Rahim Mahmodlou  1 , Mohammad Reza Aghasi, Nariman Sepehrvand
Affiliations
Case Reports

Identifying the Non-recurrent Laryngeal Nerve: Preventing a Major Risk of Morbidity During Thyroidectomy

Rahim Mahmodlou et al. Int J Prev Med. 2013 Feb.

Abstract

Non-recurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) is a rare anomaly which is reported in 0.3%-0.8% of people on the right side and in 0.004% (extremely rare) on the left side. Damage to this nerve during the surgical procedure may lead to severe iatrogenic morbidity and should therefore be prevented from being damaged. The best way to avoid this damage to the nerve is to identify the nerve with a systematic diligent dissection based on usual anatomical landmarks and awareness about the possibility of their existence. Hereby, we are going to present a 26-year-old woman, a case of NRLN on the right side which was identified during thyroidectomy. The nervous anomaly was accompanied with vascular abnormality which was confirmed by computerized tomography (CT) angiography, post-operatively.

Keywords: Inferior laryngeal nerve; non-recurrent; thyroidectomy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Non-recurrent laryngeal nerve found during thyroidectomy
Figure 2
Figure 2
The axial and coronal view of computerized tomography angiography revealing the arterial malformation A: Right subclavian artery originated directly from the aortic arch B: Right common carotid artery C: Left common carotid artery D: Left subclavian artery E: Aortic arch
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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