Variations in the origin of inferior thyroid artery and relation of the artery with recurrent laryngeal nerve

Abstract

Abstract Background and aim : Thyroid surgery being a major surgery & quite often performed, a thorough knowledge of variations in arterial supply is very essential for surgeons to prevent alarming number of table deaths in patients with thyroid disease due to excessive and uncontrollable bleeding . It also helps the physicians for proper physical examination and treatment of the patient and to the anatomists for learning the variant patterns. Materials & methods: Fifty five adult human cadavers(45 males,10 females)aged between 25 to 50 years and 25 foetuses (18 female,7 male) aged between 24 to 34 weeks were studied by gross dissection. Results: The inferior thyroid artery was found to be absent in 5% of cases. The level of branching of inferior thyroid artery was also studied where in 23.1 % of cases the artery divides before piercing the surgical capsule of thyroid gland and in 76.97%, it divided after piercing the surgical capsule.The relationship of the artery to the recurrent laryngeal nerve was also studied where in 52.6% of cases, either the artery or its branches were anterior to the nerve, in 26.3% of cases the artery or its branches were posterior to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and in 21.1 % of cases the nerve was intermingled with the branches of artery. Conclusion: From the present study it is concluded that the knowledge of variation of the arterial supply can be used during thyroidectomy where in ligation of all the thyroid vessels is highly essential to ensure proper homeostasis.