TY - JOUR
TI - Abnormal distance of the extralaryngeal bifurcation point of the
recurrent laryngeal nerve from the cricothyroid joint
AU - Piperos, Theodoros
AU - Kaklamanos, Ioannis
AU - Chrysikos, Dimosthenis
AU - and Zarokosta, Maria
AU - Boumpa, Eleni
AU - Zoulamoglou, Menelaos and
AU - Kalles, Vasileios
AU - Gkogka, Georgia-Ioanna
AU - Mariolis-Sapsakos,
AU - Theodoros
JO - Journal of Surgical Case Reports
PY - 2018
VL - null
TODO - 1
SP - null
PB - Oxford University Press
SN - 2042-8812
TODO - 10.1093/jscr/rjx257
TODO - null
TODO - The extralaryngeal bifurcation point of the recurrent laryngeal nerve
(RLN) is typically located in a mean distance of 0-2 cm from the
cricothyroid joint (CTJ). In the presented case though, the left RLN was
unexpectedly identified bifurcating in a mean distance of 7 cm from the
left CTJ in a young woman with multinodular goiter during total
thyroidectomy. The RLN was carefully exposed throughout its course for
the avoidance of iatrogenic injury of the nerval structure. The
operation was uneventful. The present manuscript aims to highlight a
scarce anatomic variation and its implications for thyroidectomy. Rare
anatomic variations of the RLN such as the presented one encumber
thyroid surgery and represent a severe risk factor of RLN injury.
Meticulous operative technique combined with surgeons' perpetual
awareness concerning this peculiar anatomical aberration leads to an
injury-free thyroid surgery.
ER -