[Prophylaxis of laryngeal nerve injuries in thyroid surgery].

The problem of injury of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) is topical despite large usage and detailed development of surgical treatment of thyroid gland (TG). The results of 3603 operations on TG were analyzed. The 1st group consisted of 560 patients operated in 1981-1988 by O.V. Nikolaev's method without dissection of RLN, the 2nd group--3043 patients operated in 1989-1998 with intraoperative imaging of RLN on the one or two sides. In the 1st group the injury of RLN was revealed in 39 (7.0%) patients, in 4 of them--bilateral. In 2nd group it was revealed in 10 (0.3%) patients. Present data lead to a conclusion that intraoperative imaging of RLN in operation on the thyroid gland is necessary.