Table 4.
Extralaryngeal branching features of RLN and its relationship with other anatomical variations on both sides of the neck
| Total | Right (n=572) | Left (n=555) | p-values | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of branches (n=1127) | 0.001 | |||
| 1 | 729 (64.7%) | 358 (62.6%) | 371 (66.8%) | |
| 2 | 368 (32.7) | 205 (35.8%) | 163 (29.4%) | |
| 3 | 27 (2.4%) | 6 (1%) | 21 (3.8%) | |
| 4 | 3 (0.3%) | 3 (0.5%) | 0 | |
| Number of branching nerves | 398 (35.4%) | 214 (37.4%) | 184 (33.2%) | 0.077 |
| Branching distance Mean+SD (min-max) (cm) | 1.91±0.91 (0.5–5.0) | 1.82±0.86 (0.5–4.0) | 1.97±0.95 (0.5–5.0) | 0.128 |
| Ligament of Berry entrapment in branching nerves (n=229) | 0.008 | |||
| (+) | 96 (25.9%) | 63(31.5%) | 33(19.4%) | |
| (−) | 274 (74.1%) | 137(68.5%) | 137(80.6%) | |
| Ligament of Berry entrapment in non-branching nerves(n=653) | 0.037 | |||
| (+) | 114 (17.5%) | 66 (20.6%) | 48 (14.4%) | |
| (−) | 539 (82.5%) | 254 (79.4%) | 285 (85.6%) | |
| Relationship between RLN and ITA in branching nerves(n=394) | 0.002 | |||
| Anterior | 190 (48.2%) | 114 (54%) | 76 (41.5%) | |
| Posterior | 153(38.8%) | 65 (30.8%) | 88 (48.1%) | |
| Between branches | 51 (12.9%) | 32 (15.2%) | 19 (10.4%) | |
| Relationship between RLN and ITA in non-branching nerves(n=723) | ||||
| Anterior | 321(44.4%) | 185(52.0%) | 136(37.0%) | <0.000 |
| Posterior | 347(48.0%) | 135(37.9%) | 212(57.8%) | |
| Between branches | 55(7.6%) | 36(10.1%) | 19(5.2%) |
SD: Standard deviation; RLN: Recurrent laryngeal nerve; ITA: Inferior thyroid artery.