1. The area under the waveform of electromyography for monitoring the external branches of the superior laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery
- Author
-
Daqi Zhang, Zihan Zhao, Gianlorenzo Dionigi, Hui Sun, Tie Wang, and Yishen Zhao
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Laryngoscopy ,morbidity ,intraoperative neuromonitoring ,Electromyography ,Stroboscope ,03 medical and health sciences ,Superior laryngeal nerve ,0302 clinical medicine ,Medicine ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Receiver operating characteristic ,business.industry ,Thyroidectomy ,Cricothyroid muscle ,external branch of superior laryngeal nerve ,nerve injury ,Thyroid surgery ,Nerve injury ,Surgery ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Original Article ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
BACKGROUND: Injuries to the external branches of the superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN) are difficult to identify during thyroidectomy. Monitoring the low amplitudes of the EBSLN during surgery has proven to be complicated. Therefore a new parameter, the area under the waveform (AUW), was designed to improve monitoring efficiency. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of using AUW to monitor the EBSLN during thyroidectomy. METHODS: A total of 927 patients and 927 recurrent laryngeal nerves (RLN) and EBSLNs who underwent monitored unilateral thyroidectomy were included. Standardized intraoperative neuromonitoring procedures were followed. RLN injuries were confirmed using stroboscopic laryngoscopy after surgery. EBSLN injuries were identified by means of observing changes in cricothyroid muscle (CTM) twitches when stimulated. Amplitude and AUW changes were assessed using statistical analysis. The correlations between AUW and amplitude were verified using the ratio of the two parameters to determine any decreases that were observed in the number of nerve injury cases. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate the prediction of nerve injury. RESULTS: The overall injury rates of the RLN and EBSLN were 3.56% and 2.05%, respectively. The AUW for the RLN and EBSLN presented linear correlations with amplitude. In the RLN injury cases, no significant difference was observed between the two parameters (P>0.05). In the cases with EBSLN injuries, the AUW decreased 64.5%±14.1%, on average, which was a greater decrease compared to that observed for amplitude 49.7%±22.2% (P
- Published
- 2021