Lidocaine Infusion Improves the Functionality of Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring During Thyroid Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blinded Study.

Background: Intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) to assess the recurrent laryngeal nerve function during thyroid surgery is becoming the standard of care across many institutions. The successful deployment and data analysis from the IONM require complete laryngeal relaxation and reflex suppression. We investigated the role of intravenous lidocaine infusion (IVLI) to provide such operating conditions, under a lighter plane of anesthesia and fewer hemodynamic fluctuations.