Topography of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in relation to the thyroid artery, zuckerkandl tubercle, and berry ligament in Kenyans
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Date
2011Author
Kaisha, W.
Wobenjo, A
Saidi, H.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) is an important but avoidable
complication of thyroidectomy. This complication may be avoided by the identification
of the nerve facilitated by important landmarks found along its
course. The setting for this work is the Human Anatomy Laboratory of the University
of Nairobi. The aim of this work is to determine the topographic relationship
of the RLN with the inferior thyroid artery (ITA), the tubercle of Zuckerkandl
(TZ), and the ligament of Berry (LB) in a Kenyan population. The relationship
between the nerve and the above landmarks was determined during
dissection of 146 right and left thyroid lobes. One right side of the neck had a
nonrecurrent nerve. Of the specimens where relationship was determined, the
nerve was anterior to the ITA in 37% of cases and posterior in 51.4%. In relation
to the LB, 45.3% were superficial (dorsolateral). The TZ was clearly
delineated in 86 of the 146 specimens. No nerve traversed the tubercle. The
RLN exhibited variations similar to those in other populations. The TZ when
present was a reliable landmark to the nerve. Clin. Anat. 24:853–857,
2011
Citation
Clinical Anatomy 24:853–857 (2011)Publisher
Department of Human Anatomy, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya Department of Surgery, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
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- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]