A Case of Nonrecurrent Inferior Laryngeal Nerve with Foreign-Body Sensation in the Throat

Abstract

Nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve (NRILN) is a rare disorder. We report here a 65 year-old male with a right NRILN whose chief complaint was a foreign-body sensation in the throat. The NRILN was detected incidentally during surgery for thyroid cancer. A NRILN usually results fr om an aberrant right subclavian artery due to abnormal embryonic development of the aortic arch. The aberrant right subclavian artery was diagnosed by MR angiograghy and esophagography after the surgery. The foreign-body sensation in the throat was not altered after the surgery. Therefore the foreign-body sensation in the throat may have been due to compression to the esophagus by the abnormal right subclavian artery.
Surgeons must always be aware of the possibility of NRILN during the thyroid and parathyroid surgery.