Department of Anatomy, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
Clin Anat. 2012 Jan;25(1):32-9. doi: 10.1002/ca.21254. Epub 2011 Aug 18.
The external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve gives off many branches above the upper pole of the thyroid gland. Differentiating the branch innervating the cricothyroid muscle from the others may be important during surgery. Therefore, we aimed to demonstrate the branching pattern of this nerve in detail. In 34 human cadavers (59 sides), branches of the nerve were exposed and measurements related to them and neighboring structures were made. A cricothyroidal branch was present on all sides. This branch pierced the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle 3.9-17.6 mm above, 3.1-9.9 mm below, or at the level of the upper pole of the thyroid gland. On all sides, the nerve provided one or two thyroidal branches. The thyroidal branch was generally thinner than the cricothyroidal branch. But they were equal in size on three (5%) sides. The external laryngeal nerve provided two or three pharyngeal branches on all sides. These branches arose from the nerve 3.5-12.7 mm from the upper pole of the thyroid gland. Although the branch was generally thinner than the cricothyroidal branch, both branches were equal on four (6.7%) sides. Two cardiac branches were observed on two (3.3%) left sides. In conclusion, the cricothyroidal branch was generally thicker than the other branches. But on seven (11.8%) sides, thyroidal or pharyngeal branches and the cricothyroidal branch were equal in size. These data may be important during surgery as the surgeon may confuse the cricothyroidal branch with other branches of the external laryngeal nerve.
喉上神经外支在上极上方发出许多分支。在手术中，区分支配环甲肌的分支与其他分支可能很重要。因此，我们旨在详细展示该神经的分支模式。在 34 具人体尸体（59 侧）中，暴露神经分支，并对其与邻近结构相关的测量值进行了测量。所有侧都存在环甲肌支。该分支在上极上方 3.9-17.6mm、下方 3.1-9.9mm 或在甲状腺上极水平穿过下咽缩肌。所有侧都有一个或两个甲状腺分支。甲状腺支通常比环甲肌支细。但在 3%的侧有两支相等。喉外神经在所有侧都有两个或三个咽支。这些分支起源于甲状腺上极 3.5-12.7mm 处的神经。尽管分支通常比环甲肌支细，但在 6.7%的侧，两支相等。在两个（3.3%）左侧观察到两个心支。总之，环甲肌支通常比其他分支粗。但在 11.8%的侧，甲状腺支或咽支与环甲肌支的大小相等。这些数据在手术中可能很重要，因为外科医生可能会将环甲肌支与喉返神经的其他分支混淆。
