Practical anatomical considerations in thyroid tumor surgery.

Of the nine practical anatomical considerations relative to thyroidectomy, the relationship of the recurrent laryngeal nerve to the posterior suspensory ligament of the thyroid rather than the nerve relationship to the inferior thyroid artery is believed to be the most important. Thus, the surgeon is admonished first to locate the nerve at or just above the superior thoracic inlet as one of the initial steps in thyroidectomy. The other more important considerations are the surgical anatomy of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve and the fact that often the parathyroid glands can be retrieved from the surgical specimen while still in the sterile surgical field and then can be reimplanted.