Frequency and Factors Leading to Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve (RLN) Injury during Thyroid Surgery
Keywords:
Total Thyroidectomy, RLN Injury.Abstract
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the frequency and to assess the factors leading to Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve (RLN) injury during thyroid surgery at a tertiary care hospital.
Study Design: Descriptive case series.
Setting: Surgical Unit-I, Fatima Jinnah Medical College/Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore.
Subject and Methods: Four hundreds and seventy patients were included in this study. Patients with pre-existing RLN injury and those with concomitant parathyroid pathology were excluded from the study. RLN injury was documented by post-operative finding of absent vocal cord movement on direct laryngoscopy by the anesthetist at the time of extubation.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 45.33±10.20 years and 71.9% were female. Total thyroidectomy was the most common (43%) surgical procedure performed. Fifty nine (12.6%) patients underwent redo surgery and in 61 (13%) patients histopathology report revealed malignant lesion. RLN injury was noted in 18 (3.8%) cases of the total surgeries. The occurrence of RLN injury was significantly higher among Total Thyroidectomy patients (7.4%, p=.006) and those with malignant thyroid lesion (13.1% vs. 2.4%, p=.000). However, there was only insignificant difference between redo and primary surgery (3.9% vs. 3.4%; p=.851).
Conclusion: RLN injury is a frequent complication of thyroid surgery and the occurrence is even higher among patients undergoing total thyroidectomy, redo surgery and those with malignant thyroid lesion.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The Journal of Fatima Jinnah Medical University follows the Attribution Creative Commons-Non commercial (CC BY-NC) license which allows the users to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, remix, transform and build upon the material. The users must give credit to the source and indicate, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. However, the CC By-NC license restricts the use of material for commercial purposes. For further details about the license please check the Creative Commons website. The editorial board of JFJMU strives hard for the authenticity and accuracy of the material published in the journal. However, findings and statements are views of the authors and do not necessarily represent views of the Editorial Board.
