PMC

Dissection of recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph node. A, The Right RLN was identified with the neural stimulation; black arrowhead, right recurrent laryngeal nerve; black arrow, stimulator probe; SA, right subclavian artery; Tr, trachea; RLN, recurrent laryngeal nerve. B, The branches from the RLN were divided with the scissors or the ultrasonic scalpel; black arrowhead, right RLN. C, The intermittent nerve stimulation at the intersection of the right subclavian artery was performed to observed response of EMG activity; black arrowhead, right recurrent laryngeal nerve; black arrow, stimulator probe; Tr, trachea. D, The left RLN was identified with the neural stimulation under the aortic arch; white arrowhead, left recurrent laryngeal nerve; black arrow, stimulator probe; Ao, aortic arch; Tr, trachea. E, The connective tissue and vessels were dissected with the ultrasonic scalpel preserving RLN; white arrowhead, left RLN. F, The intermittent nerve stimulation at the intersection of the aortic arch was performed to observed response of EMG activity; white arrowhead, left recurrent laryngeal nerve; black arrow, stimulator probe; Ao, aortic arch; Tr, trachea

On the left: Right neck dissection during tracheoesophageal fistula repair demonstrating the right recurrent laryngeal nerve in the tracheoesophageal groove branching before it enters the larynx. T, thyroid gland; A, airway (trachea); S, sternocleidomastoid muscle; E, esophagus; R, two branches of right recurrent laryngeal nerve. On the right: The left recurrent laryngeal nerve seen from posterolateral direction during a right thoracotomy (right non-recurrent laryngeal nerve not shown). The probe is pointing to the left recurrent laryngeal nerve as it lies on the thoracic esophagus. AS, aberrant right subclavian artery; TD, thoracic duct; E, esophagus; A, airway (trachea and bronchi); Sp, spine; L, left recurrent laryngeal nerve.

(a) OCT probe attached to the laryngoscope; (b) defogging before (c) insertion of the probe into pharynx for examination; and (d) dual-channel office-based OCT laryngeal probe in use during laryngeal examination.

Right recurrent laryngeal nerve dissections. Ball-tip Monopolar Stimulator Probe was used for intermittent recurrent laryngeal nerve mapping (). Available online: http://www.asvide.com/articles/1330