Laryngeal Nerves and Voice Change in Thyroid Surgery.

The low incidence of injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN) quoted in the literature is derived from expert series. The exact incidence of nerve injury of a thyroid surgeon will be revealed only if pre-operative and post-operative laryngoscopy is becoming routine practice. It is found that the injury rates are increased with routine post-operative laryngoscopy. Subjective voice change occurred in one third of patients all whom had normal vocal cord motion. Therefore, it is important to take written informed consent for voice change in addition to identification of both nerves and documenting it. © Indian Association of Surgical Oncology 2021.