5-069.41:

One of your recurrent laryngeal nerves was monitored during an operation.

There is a right and a left recurrent laryngeal nerve. Both of them go to the larynx, passing closely by the thyroid gland. The recurrent laryngeal nerves control the vocal cord movements. The vocal cords are located in the larynx. The vocal cords are important for our speech and breathing. The vocal cords open during inhalation. As a result, air can get into the lungs. When we speak, the vocal cords vibrate. We can thus produce different sounds.

When operating on the thyroid gland and the parathyroid gland, care is taken not to harm the recurrent laryngeal nerves. To do this, the recurrent laryngeal nerve is connected to a probe and stimulated with weak electrical pulses. The recurrent laryngeal nerve passes this electrical stimulus on to the vocal cord muscle. Another probe receives the arriving stimulus and enables it to be seen and heard on a computer. In this way, it is made clear that the recurrent laryngeal nerve is not being harmed. One of your recurrent laryngeal nerves was monitored throughout the operation.