Abstract:Objective:To study the application of anatomization of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroid surgery.
Methods :The clinical data of 236 patients who had undergone 335 thyroid operations were retrospectively reviewed. They included: One hundred and one patients (Group A) who had undergone thyroidectomy 158 times without anatomization of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, including 57 of these patients had bilateral thyroid operation; 135 patients (Group B) with anatomization of the recurrent laryngeal nerve who had undergone 177 thyroid operations, including 42 of these patients had bilateral thyroid operations.
Results:All the 4 nerves injury occurred in the region of removal the posterior aspect of thyroid. Temporary nerve injury occurred in one case (0.56%) in Group B, and temporary nerve injury and permanent nerve injury occurred respectively in 2 cases and 1 case (a total injury rate of 1.9%) in Group A. There was a significant difference between the two groups（χ2=0.382, P＜0.01）.
Conclusions:Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury can be safely reduced by dissection of the nerve during thyroid surgery. The recurrent largngeal nerve should routinely be anatomized during removal of the posterior aspect of the thyroid gland.