Identifying the non-recurrent laryngeal nerve: Preventing a major risk of morbidity during thyroidectomy

Non‑recurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) is a rare anomaly which
is reported in 0.3%‑0.8% of people on the right side and in
0.004% (extremely rare) on the left side. Damage to this nerve during
the surgical procedure may lead to severe iatrogenic morbidity and
should therefore be prevented from being damaged. The best way
to avoid this damage to the nerve is to identify the nerve with a
systematic diligent dissection based on usual anatomical landmarks
and awareness about the possibility of their existence. Hereby,
we are going to present a 26‑year‑old woman, a case of NRLN
on the right side which was identified during thyroidectomy. The
nervous anomaly was accompanied with vascular abnormality which
was confirmed by computerized tomography (CT) angiography,
post‑operatively.