[Non-recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery: a report of 4 cases and literature review].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate clinical significance of non-recurrent laryngeal nerve.


METHODS
Clinical data from 4 cases of non-recurrent laryngeal nerve and related literature review was made to acknowledge its incidence, variant types and matters concerned during thyroid surgery.


RESULTS
Seven hundred and nineteen recurrent laryngeal nerves were exposed during 2156 thyroid operations in Xiangya Hospital, from which 4 were confirmed to hold non-recurrent laryngeal nerves (0.56%). Two cases were found on the right side and the other 2 on the left. Among the 4 cases, 3 (patients) were found to have non-recurrent laryngeal nerves during reoperation because of voice horse after the first operation. The other one was recognized during the first operation.


CONCLUSIONS
Non-recurrent laryngeal nerve, a rare anomaly, is very vulnerable during thyroid surgery. Knowing the related knowledge of the non-recurrent laryngeal nerve and its types is helpful to avoid its damage during thyroid surgery.
Li
Xin-Ying
XY
Department of General Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha 410008, China. lixinyingcn@hotmail.com
Lu
Xin-Sheng
XS
Wang
Zhi-Ming
ZM
Huang
Jian-Hua
JH
Li
Jin-Dong
JD
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods*; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000517:prevention & control*