title: Evidence for recurrent laryngeal nerve contribution in motor innervation of the human cricopharyngeal muscle.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the functional motor nerve supply of the upper esophageal sphincter in humans.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intraoperative electromyographic study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The contribution of the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the pharyngeal plexus in the motor nerve innervation of the cricopharyngeal muscle and the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle was examined intraoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Electromyography showed that there is a considerable overlap in the innervation of the cricopharyngeal muscle and the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. The recurrent laryngeal nerve functionally contributes to the motor innervation of the cricopharyngeal muscle in all patients and contributes to the motor innervation of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle in most patients. The pharyngeal plexus functionally contributes to the motor innervation of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle but does not always contribute to the motor innervation of the cricopharyngeal muscle.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first report which provides evidence that the recurrent laryngeal nerve functionally contributes to the motor innervation of the cricopharyngeal and inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. Furthermore, this study shows that intraoperative electromyography in humans is a feasible method to analyze the physiology of the motor innervation of the upper esophageal sphincter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Brok
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Copper
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Stroeve
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Ongerboer de Visser
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Venker-van Haagen
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Schouwenburg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004576:Electromyography; D004947:Esophagus / Q000294:innervation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000294:innervation*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000294:innervation*; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve / Q000502:physiology*