Identification of the External Branch of the Superior Laryngeal Nerve during Thyroid Surgery.

Aim: To compare the level of intra-operative identification of external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN) through classical conventional clinical methods of prevention against those applying intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM).

Materials And Methods: The study included 102 patients with interventions on the thyroid gland performed in the surgical clinics of St George University Hospital and the Department of Special Surgery of Plovdiv Medical University. All operative procedures were performed by the standard technique of capsular dissection and IONM.

Prognostic significance of intraoperative PTH test for the development of post-thyroidectomy hypocalcaemia.

The high incidence of postoperative hypoparathyroidism after total thyroidectomy and the significant morbidity associated with it can account for the sustained efforts to find reliable, affordable markers for the prognosis of this condition. Therefore, a lot of attention has been paid recently to the perioperative measurement of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) as an immediate indicator showing the parathyroid glands functional status. There are a lot of studies in the relevant literature demonstrating that PTH is a highly sensitive marker, with high specificity to predict development of postoperative hypocalcemia.