The Current State of Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Monitoring for Thyroid Surgery

There is an increasing interest in intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM), and numerous institutions have begun to perform monitored thyroidectomies. Attitudes have changed with the introduction of non-invasive devices, the publication of trials and guidelines defining standards, structured courses and descriptions of legal implications. The use of IONM helps to identify the nerve and give an objective evaluation of its function during the dissection. Recently, continuous IONM was introduced; it is a promising tool for early recognition of recurrent laryngeal nerve stress. This paper describes current issues in IONM.