[Intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve--routine use in thyroid gland surgery].

We present a simple and reliable method for identification of the recurrent nerve by intraoperative stimulation. An electromyographic record from the vocal muscle is obtained using a bipolar needle electrode inserted through the cricothyroid membrane. The recurrent nerve could be easily identified in 176 cases out of 181 nerves at risk (97.2%). We have not seen any cases of recurrent nerve paralysis and discuss the advantages of intraoperative neuromonitoring as a routine procedure.