J Otolaryngol Head N
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J Otolaryngol Head N · Jun 2014
Comparative StudyIdentification alone versus intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery: experience of 2034 consecutive patients.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of intraoperative neuromonitoring in reducing the postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy rate by a comparison between patients submitted to thyroidectomy with intraoperative neuromonitoring and with routine identification alone. ⋯ Visual nerve identification remains the gold standard of recurrent laryngeal nerve management in thyroid surgery. Neuromonitoring helps to identify the nerve, in particular in difficult cases, but it did not decrease nerve injuries compared with visualization alone. Future studies are warranted to evaluate the benefit of intraoperative neuromonitoring in thyroidectomy, especially in conditions in which the recurrent nerve is at high risk of injury.