Methods of protecting recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroidectomy

Recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy is the most common complication of thyroidectomy, and it is closely related to its diversity of anatomical structure, procedures of operation, usage of energy-based devices (EBDs) and other relevant factors.With the development of research on RLN protection methods, routine visual identification of RLN, intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) and continuous intraoperative neuromonitoring (CIONM) appear successively.This article aims to summarize the particularities of the three different methods, compare their superiorities and defects and provide evidences for clinical practice.