Alessandro Malara
Although intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) has been shown in adults to reduce nerve palsy after thyroid surgery, there have been few studies on its efficacy in a paediatric population. We conducted a retrospective study on patients who had thyroid lesions removed between 2016 and 2022. The study population was divided into two groups: patients treated from 2016 to 2020, when the RLN was identified without the use of IONM (Group A), and patients treated since 2021, when IONM was used in all thyroid surgical procedures (Group B). Corticobulbar motorevoked potentials and continuous electromyography were used for intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. Thyroid resection was performed on 25 children, 19 (76%) of whom had thyroid carcinoma. Each patient's recurrent nerve was examined. IONM was used in 13 patients who were identified. One temporary nerve palsy (8.3%) was found in Group A, while one nerve dysfunction (7.7%) was found in Group B. In terms of post-operative RLN palsy, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. There were no surgical complications reported as a result of the use of IONM. Intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in children and teenagers is a safe and accurate method that reduces the risk of nerve damage.
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