[Recurrent nerve paralysis following thyroid surgery (author's transl)].

Following a brief review of anatomical features, the risk of injury to the recurrent nerve is discussed as a function of the type of operation performed: subtotal thyroidectomy, ablation of a retrosternal goitre, lobectomy, and total thyroidectomy. Particular attention has to be paid to the risk of anomaly in the nerve pathway: early division or a nerve branching directly from the Xth nerve without a recurrent pathway. Paralysis may be due to simple stretching of the nerve, when regression occurs in approximately three months. Paralysis of the recurrent nerve occurred in 1.69% of cases (7 definite, including 2 of necessity), in a series of 1 184 recurrent nerve exposures.