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Case Reports
. 2025 Apr;79(2):139-144.
doi: 10.18926/AMO/68654.

Safe Resection of Esophageal Cancer with a Non-Recurrent Inferior Laryngeal Nerve Associated with an Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery Using Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring

Yasushige Takeda  1 , Kazuhiro Noma  1 , Naoaki Maeda  1 , Yohei Mizusawa  1 , Hijiri Matsumoto  1 , Yuhei Kondo  1 , Tomoyoshi Kunitomo  1 , Yukinori Tanoue  1 , Masashi Hashimoto  1 , Shunsuke Tanabe  1 , Toshiyoshi Fujiwara  1
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Free article
Case Reports

Safe Resection of Esophageal Cancer with a Non-Recurrent Inferior Laryngeal Nerve Associated with an Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery Using Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring

Yasushige Takeda et al. Acta Med Okayama. 2025 Apr.
Free article

Abstract

In thoracic esophageal cancer, lymph node dissection around the recurrent laryngeal nerve is crucial but poses a risk of nerve palsy, affecting postoperative quality of life. In cases with an aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA), the right recurrent laryngeal nerve is absent, and the non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve (NRILN) enters the larynx directly from the vagus nerve in the cervical region. Identifying the course of the NRILN is vital to avoid injury. A case of esophageal cancer with an ARSA, in which the course of the NRILN was preserved using the Nerve Integrity Monitoring (NIM) system during surgery, is described.

Keywords: aberrant right subclavian artery; esophageal cancer; intraoperative nerve monitoring; non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve; thoracoscopic esophagectomy.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

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