Abstract:Objective:To explore the effect of exposure of the recurrent laryngcal nerve(RLN) in prevention of RLN injury during thyorid surgery. Methods :The clinical data of 810 cases of thyroid operation in which the RLN was exposed in 252 cases (group A) and was unexposed in 558 cases (group B) were analyzed. Results:Although the extent of thyroid resection was greater in group A than in group B, the rate of RLN injury in group A (1.19 %) was significantly lower than that of group B (3.05 %,P<0.01). Conclusions:Selective exposure of RLN during thyroid surgery can significantly decrease the rate of RLN injury.