Todeterminethevalueofdissectingtherecurrentlaryngealnerveduringthyroidsurgerywithrespecttopreventingrecurrentlaryngealnerveinjury,weretrospectivelyanalyzedclinicaldatafrom5344patientsundergoingthyroidectomy.Amongthesecases,548underwentdissectionoftherecurrentlaryngealnerve,while4796didnot.Therewere12casesofrecurrentlaryngealnerveinjuryfollowingrecurrentlaryngealnervedissection(injuryrateof2.2%)and512casesofrecurrentlaryngealnerveinjuryinthosenotundergoingnervedissection(injuryrateof10.7%).Thisdifferenceremainedstatisticallysignificantbetweenthetwogroupsintermsoftypeofthyroiddisease,typeofsurgery,andnumberofsurgeries.Amongthe548casesundergoingrecurrentlaryngealnervedissection,128developedanatomicalvariationsoftherecurrentlaryngealnerve(incidencerateof23.4%),butnorecurrentlaryngealnerveinjurywasfound.Inaddition,theincidenceofrecurrentlaryngealnerveinjurywassignificantlylowerinpatientswiththeinferiorparathyroidglandandmiddlethyroidveinsusedaslandmarksforlocatingtherecurrentlaryngealnervecomparedwiththosewiththeentryoftherecurrentlaryngealnerveintothelarynxasalandmark.Thesefindingsindicatethatanatomicalvariationsoftherecurrentlaryngealnervearecommon,andthatdissectingtherecurrentlaryngealnerveduringthyroidsurgeryisaneffectivemeansofpreventingnerveinjury.
