Table 2.

Primary and secondary outcomes of this study

Single trunk RLN, no (%) Bifid RLN left Bifid RLN right Bifid RLN bilateral	1887 (75.5) 290 (23.2) 323 (25.8) 92 (7.4)
Bifid RLN, no (%) Posterior sensory branch (no EMG, no laryngeal twitch) Posterior motor branch (positive EMG and laryngeal twitch) Posterior motor branch (no EMG but palpable laryngeal twitch)	613 (24.5) 605 (98.7) 4 (0.6) 4 (0.6)
Distance from RLN ramification point into the larynx entry, mm (95 % CI)
Posterior sensory branch	19 (17–21)
Posterior motor branch	9 (7–11)
RLN EMG amplitude following 1 mA stimulation of the anterior brancha, mean ± SD
Posterior sensory branch (no EMG, no laryngeal twitch)	948 ± 199 µV†
Posterior motor branch (positive EMG and laryngeal twitch)	785 ± 158 µV
Posterior motor branch (no EMG but palpable laryngeal twitch)	1534 ± 150 µV†
RLN EMG amplitude following 1 mA stimulation of the posterior branch, mean ± SD
Posterior motor branch (positive EMG and laryngeal twitch)	474 ± 76 µV
Posterior motor branch (no EMG but palpable laryngeal twitch)	No EMG
Early RLN injury, no (%) Single trunk RLN Bifid RLN	62 (2.5) 30 (1.6)‡ 32 (5.2)‡
Permanent RLN injury, no (%) Single trunk RLN Bifid RLN	10 (0.4) 3 (0.2) 7 (1.1)

RLN recurrent laryngeal nerve, EMG electromyography

^† p = 0.001

^‡ p < 0.001

^aResponse from the anterior branch following stimulation with 1.0 mA