A comparative study on nerve exposing versus no exposing for avoiding recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in thyroidectomy

Objective To compare the incidence of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury in thyroidectomy with or without exposing RLN. Methods Records of 704 patients in our hospital undergoing thyroidectomy were retrospectively studied, among whom 472 patients underwent thyroidectomy with RLN being exposed and 232 underwent thyroidectomy without RLN being exposed. Results The incidence of RLN temporary damage and permanent damage in RLN exposed group was 1.49% (7/472) and 0, while it was 6. 03% (14/232)and 2. 16%(5/232) in the non-exposed group. There was statistic difference between the two groups in terms of permanent injury incidence and operation duration (P ＜ 0. 01). Conclusions Although the operation duration was prolonged in RLN exposure group, RLN exposure during operation is very helpful to prevent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. Therefore, it's necessary to expose RLN during operation in sub-total thyroidectomy and total thyroidectomy. Key words: Thyroidectomy; Recurrent laryngeal nerve damage; Thyroid diseases