The causes of recurrent laryngeal nerve damage and prevention / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the reasons and prevention of the hoarse voice after continuity-intact recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN)operation without damage of RLN under naked eyes.Methods Data of 1871 patients undergoing thyroid surgery from Jan.2001 to Jan.2011 were retrospectly analyzed.919 patients had their RLN exposed,among whom 757 patients had bilateral RLN exposed.952 patients didn't have their RLN exposed in the surgery.Results A total of 1676 RLNs were exposed by the routine method and minimally invasive method.All the nerves were confirmed no damage and continuity intact under naked eyes.Hoarse voice occurred to 19patients after surgery,with the percentage of 2.12％ (19/897).The rate of hoarse voice in the non-exposed group was 5.46％ (52/952).The difference of horse voice between the RLN exposed group and non-exposed group had statistical significance(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions RLN without damage under naked eyes and continuity intact doesn't mean no damage of electroneurophysiology.The rate of RLN damage in the exposed group was less than that in the non-exposed group.The major causes of hoarse voice may include misoperation,heat conduction and postoperative scar adhesion.The key to avoid RLN damage is prevention.