Morphology and Functional Anatomy of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve with Extralaryngeal Terminal Bifurcation

Table 1

Nerves at risk and recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) with extralaryngeal terminal bifurcation (ETB).

⁢Patients with bifurcated RLNs		RLNs at risk	RLNs with ETB	Occurrence of ETB		Side of ETB
				Bilateral	Unilateral	Right	Left
Total thyroidectomy	31	62	41		21	7	14
				10		10	10
Right hemithyroidectomy	1	1	1	Ø	1	1	Ø
Left hemithyroidectomy	4	4	4	Ø	4	Ø	4
Total	36	67	46	10	26	18	28