Anatomical landmarks of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve

Abstract

Background. The external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve innervates a cricothyroid muscle, which provides tension in vocal cords and formation of high-frequency sounds. When the nerve is damaged during surgery, patients may notice hoarseness, inability to utter high pitched sounds, “rapid fatigue” of the voice, and dysphagia. According to literature, paresis of an external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve reaches up to 58% after thyroid surgery. Aim: to identify permanent landmarks and topographic variations of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve. Materials and methods. The study is based on the autopsy material (21 complexes organs of the neck) and on identification of variations of 40 external branches of the superior laryngeal nerve. We identified two permanent landmarks that are located at the minimum distance from nerve and we made metrical calculations relative to them: oblique line of thyroid cartilage and tendinous arch of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. Results. The piercing point of the nerve is always located at the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle without protruding beyond the oblique line of thyroid cartilage superiorly and tendinous arch of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle anteriorly. The nerve had the parallel direction in 92.8% of cases (angel less than 30 degrees) relative to the oblique line and in 85.7% cases it was in close proximity to this line (at distance up to 4 mm). The proposed topographic classification of the location of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve is based on localization of the piercing point of the nerve relative to the length of the oblique line of thyroid cartilage and the risk of nerve damage. In 14.2% of cases, the piercing point was in the front third of the line (type I), and in 50% it was in the middle third of this line (type II). These variations of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve was in close proximity to the upper pole of the thyroid gland, which could have lead to its damage during surgery. In type III and IV (35.8%) – the piercing point in the muscle was located as far as possible from the upper pole of the thyroid gland and the greater part of the nerve was covered with the fibers of inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. Conclusion. We identified the main orienteers for the search and proposed anatomical classification of the location of the external branch on the superior laryngeal nerve.