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.