Recurrent laryngeal nerve
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nerve: Recurrent laryngeal nerve | ||
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| POSTERIOR VIEW: The tracheobronchial lymph glands (I. and E. Recurrent nerves visible at top.) | ||
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| Course and distribution of the glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves. | ||
| Gray's | subject #205 912 | |
| Innervates | posterior cricoarytenoid lateral cricoarytenoid arytenoid thyroarytenoid |
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| From | vagus nerve | |
The recurrent laryngeal nerve is a branch of the vagus nerve (the tenth cranial nerve) that supplies motor function and sensation to the larynx (voice box).
It is referred to as "recurrent" because the branches of the nerve innervate the laryngeal muscles in the neck through a rather circuitous route: they descend down into the thorax before rising up between the trachea and esophagus to reach the neck.
The left branch loops under and around the arch of the aorta before ascending, whereas the right branch loops around the right subclavian artery.
The nerve splits into anterior and posterior rami before supplying muscles in the voice box — it supplies all laryngeal muscles except for the cricothyroid, which is innervated by the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve.
[edit] Clinical significance
The nerve is best known for its importance in thyroid surgery, as it runs immediately posterior to this gland. If it is damaged during surgery, the patient will have a hoarse voice. Nerve damage can be assessed by laryngoscopy, during which a stroboscopic light confirms the absence of movement in the affected side of the vocal cords. Similar problems may also be due to invasion of the nerve by a tumor. In Veterinary medicine, 'roars' refers to a deficit in the left recurrent laryngeal nerve causing characteristic stenuous sounds upon inspiration. Is treatable by specialists in equine medicine.
The nerve may be damaged due to trauma to the neck or due to a tumor of the thyroid/oesophagous. If the damage is unilateral, the patient may present without any symptoms, or may present with voice changes including hoarseness. Bilateral nerve damage may present with difficulty in breating.h
Galen was the first to describe the clinical syndrome of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis.
[edit] Additional images
 The right sympathetic chain and its connections with the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic plexuses. |
