Objective To explore the clinical significance on protection of parathyroid and recurrent laryngeal nerve （RLN） by meticulous capsular dissection and exposure of RLN in thyroid lobectomy. Methods Clinical data of 452 patients who underwent thyroid lobectomy by meticulous capsular dissection and exposure of RLN in our hospital from Jan. 2010 to Dec. 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Results All of the 452 cases underwent thyroid lebectomy successfully without death， and the operative time was 45-110min （average 60 min）， the blood loss was 5-100mL （average 20mL）. The pathological results showed that there were thyroid adenoma in 193 cases， nodular goiter in 175 cases， Hashimoto thyroiditis in 38 cases， thyroid cancer in 46 cases. After operation， 4 cases suffered RLN injury， 1 of the 4 cases recovered after removal of drainage tube， and other 3 cases recovered during 0.5 to 3.0 months. In addition， 2 cases suffered laryngeal nerve injury whose symptoms disappearred within 1 week， 5 cases suffered parathyroid founctional damage without permanent hypocalcemia whose symptom had kept 1-5 days after treatment. Three cases were reoperated because of bleeding， including branch of anterior venous bleeding in 1 case， thyroid side arterial tube bleeding in 1 case， and thyroid stump bleeding in 1 case. Twenty one cases suffered hypothyroidism in 1 month after operation， and no recurrence happened during the followed up period. Conclusions Meticulous capsular dissection can effectively protect function of parathyroid and reduce the injury probability of RLN. Exposure of RLN is safe and feasible， which plays an important role in avoiding serious RLN injury.
To investigate time of delayed reinnervated laryngeal muscle, 15 dogs were divided into two groups. The right recurrent laryngeal nerves of 10 dogs in experimental group were cut, and repaired at 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months intervals by transposition of the phrenic nerve to the recurrent laryngeal nerve after cutting and suturing the adductor branch to the main branch of ansa cervicalis. The right recurrent laryngeal nerves of 5 dogs in control group were cut, but did not repair. Laryngoscope, electromyography, contractile tension of laryngeal muscle and histologic studies were performed at six months postoperatively. The results showed that fair recovery of adduction and abduction was noted within ten months interval, and the effect of adduction was better than that of abduction. The effect decreased gradually with the denervated time increased. The conclusion demonstrated that delayed reinnervation of laryngeal muscle should be performed within ten months.
ObjectiveTo research the relevancy between the amplitudes of EMG signal of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) during thyroidectemy with the movement of vocal cords after operation by applying the intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) and verify the proper warning criterion. MethodsFrom April 2013 to October 2013, 130 patients (214 nerves at risk) underwent complex thyroidectomy with the application of IONM. According to the degree of amplitude changing on different sites of RLN (proximal site and distal site) before closing incision, all the patients were divided into 10 groups. Every patient's vocal cords movement after operation by laryngoscopy and simulated the neural function in real time were compared. ResultsSeven patients got abnormal movement of vocal cords, the corresponding amplitudes of the EMG signal of RLN were in the range between 0 to 50%, 1 case from Group 6 (40%≤Rp/Rd<50%), 1 case from Group 8 (20%≤Rp/Rd<30%), 1 case from Group 9 (10%≤Rp/Rd<20%), 4 cases from Group 10 (0≤Rp/Rd<10%), and there's no permanent RLN palsy. ConclusionThe final amplitude of RLN decrease below 50%R1 would probably lead to vocal cords' abnormal movement, and when it decrease below 30%R1, the possibility of abnormal movement would increase; 50% decrease of EMG amplitude can be used as a warning criterion to prevent nerve function damage.
OBJECTIVE In order to investigate the opportunity of repair and prognosis of recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries after thyroidectomy. METHODS Twelve cases with recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries after thyroidectomy were immediately and delayed operated on nerve repair and reinnervation. In immediate operation, 5 cases were repaired by direct recurrent laryngeal nerve suture, and 1 case was treated by transposition of the phrenic nerve to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and sutured the adductor branch to the branch of ansa cervicalis. In delayed operation, 3 cases were treated by anastomosis the main trunk of ansa cervicalis to the adductor branch of recurrent laryngeal nerve, and 3 cases were operated on neuromuscular pedicle to reinnervate posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. RESULTS Followed up 6 months, the effect was excellent in 1 case who was immediately operated by selective reinnervation of the abductor and adductor muscles of the larynx, better in 9 cases, and poor in 2 cases who were delayed operated over 12 months. CONCLUSION It can be concluded that the earlier reinnervation is performed, the better prognosis is.
Objective To investigate the anatomical character and variation of non-recurrent laryngeal nerve （NRLN）， and to explore measurement to identify and prevent injury of this nerve during thyroidectomy. Methods Clinical data of 2 211 patients who underwent thyroidectomy from Jan. 2007 to Jun. 2012 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were analyzed retrospectively， and 114 patients with NRLN of related literature reviews were analyzed too. Results There were 3 479 recurrent laryngeal nerve （2 211 cases） which were exposed during thyroid operation in Peking Union Medical College Hospital， of which 11 cases were confirmed to be right NRLN （0.32%， 11/3 479）. Of the 11 cases， 3 cases were typeⅠ， 7 cases were typeⅡA， and 1 case was typeⅡB， one case was also found to have a recurrent branch. None of them injured during operation. One hundred and fourteen cases of NRLN （0.14%-4%） were found in literature reviews. Of the 114 cases， 109 cases were confirmed to be right NRLN， of which 4 cases were typeⅠ （3.7%， 4/109）， 75 cases were typeⅡA （68.8%， 75/109）， 9 cases were typeⅡB （8.3%， 9/109）， 21 cases were unclear （19.3%， 21/109）， 3 cases were also found to have a recurrent branch （2.8%，3/109）. Five cases were confirmed to be left NRLN， of which 2 cases were typeⅡA， 3 cases were unclear， 1 case was also found to have a recurrent branch. Of all the 104 cases reported by treatises and case reports， 16 cases injured during operation， of which 1 case was typeⅠ， 9 cases were typeⅡA， 6 cases were unclear. Conclusions NRLN， which is a rare anomaly， usually happens on the right， and very vulnerable during thyroid surgery. The most usually injured type is typeⅡA. Fully acknowledgment of the NRLN and its variant types is very helpful to avoid damage during thyroid surgery.
ObjectiveTo investigate the diagnostic value and the best criteria of multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) of spiral CT in recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph node metastasis.MethodsWe performed multiplanar reconstruction of the spiral CT data of 138 esophageal carcinoma patients admitted to our hospital between December 2016 and June 2019, including 113 males and 25 females with an average age of 47-85 (63.03±15.58) years. The short and long diameters of recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes were measured respectively, and then ratio of short to long diameter was calculated. The three parameters were contrasted with the pathological results and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the parameters were drawn.ResultsOf the 138 patients, 291 left recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes were dissected with an average number of 0-14 (2.11±0.41) per patient and the metastasis rate was 16.70%; while 436 right ones were dissected with the average number of 0-17 (3.16±0.45) per patient and the metastasis rate was 21.00%. The total metastasis rate was 29.70%. In the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis, the areas under ROC curve for short and long diameters as well as the ratio of short to long diameter of left recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes were 0.808, 0.779, 0.621, respectively, while those for the right ones were 0.865, 0.807, 0.637, respectively.ConclusionThe metastasis rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes is high and the short diameter has a higher diagnostic value for recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph node metastasis.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety and necessity of recurrent laryngeal lymph node resection by comparing the complications and prognosis of patients with recurrent laryngeal nerve injury receiving different recurrent laryngeal lymph node resections.MethodsWe reviewed the clinical data of 153 patients with stage T1N0M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent radical esophageal cancer surgery at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from June 2014 to May 2016. Among them, 125 were male and 28 were female, at an average age of 62 years. All patients underwent bilateral recurrent laryngeal nodes sampling. They were divided into 3 groups according to the dissection situation: patients with only one recurrent laryngeal lymph node resection on both sides during the operation were treated as a sampling group (n=49); patients with only one recurrent laryngeal lymph node resection on one side and more than one recurrent laryngeal lymph nodes resection on the other side were treated as a unilateral dissection group (n=49); patients with more than one recurrent laryngeal lymph nodes resection on both sides were treated as a bilateral dissection group (n=55). Follow-up was performed to compare the prognostic differences among the three groups. Seven days after the operation, the vocal cords of the patients were examined with an electronic laryngoscope and classified using the Clavien-Dindo system. The differences in complications related to recurrent laryngeal nerve injury among the three groups were compared.ResultsThe 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of the patients in the sampling group, unilateral dissection group and bilateral dissection group was 66.8%, 88.5%, 93.8%, respectively. There was statistical difference between the sampling group and the unilateral dissection group or the bilateral dissection group (P<0.05), and no statistical difference between the unilateral dissection group and the bilateral dissection group (P>0.05). The incidence of complications among the three groups was not statistically different (P>0.05).ConclusionFor patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma of stage T1N0M0, the lymph nodes of the bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerves should be removed during the operation as many as possible, which will help improve the 5-year survival rate of the patients.
目的 了解喉不返神经临床解剖特点，总结甲状腺手术中预防其损伤的经验。方法 分析2例喉不返神经临床资料，结合文献讨论甲状腺手术中预防其损伤的有关问题。结果 本组2例经手术证实，喉不返神经均位于右侧； 右喉返神经缺如，术中未损伤。结论 甲状腺手术中发现横行于颈动脉鞘和喉之间任何索状结构或探查喉返神经缺如，须显露迷走神经(颈段)以避免损伤喉不返神经。