A Case of Nonrecurrent Inferior Laryngeal Nerve

Lee, Guk Haeng; Kwon, Soon Uk; Kim, Yong Jeong; Lee, Byeong Cheol

Abstract

Damages on the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) during thyroid surgery is the most common iatrogenic cause of vocal cord paralysis. Identification of the recurrent laryngeal nerve and meticulous surgical techniques can significantly decrease the incidence of this complication. The nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve is an exceedingly rare anomaly of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve is associated with abnormal development of the aortic arch, where the innominate (brachiorephalic) artery is not found and the right common carotid artery rises directly from the aortic arch. The aberrant right subclavian artery can always be felt against the vertebral column behind the esophagus. Surgeons need to be aware of the positions of these arteries to avoid damaging them. We experienced a case of nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve in the right side with the aberrant right subclavian artery. The patient received a total thyroidectomy with neck dissection for thyroid carcinoma with nodal metastasis. Incidentally, we also found nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve, and also found an aberrant right subclavian artery by the computed tomography scan. The patient presented transient vocal cord paralysis but gained complete recovery of vocal cord mobility after one and a half month later.