A narrative review of current therapies in unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve injury caused by thyroid surgery

Objective: To summarize and compare current common treatments in recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (RLNI). In addition, we introduced nerve tissue engineering technology in RLNI animal models. This review is a comprehensive summary of current therapies for unilateral RLNI. Background: RLNI is a common complication in thyroid surgery. Although preoperative imaging and intraoperative nerve monitoring are widely applied, some damage to nerves is still inevitable. Currently, advances in nerve repair and regeneration have been made, but relatively few studies have focused on RLNI. In this review, we summarized and compared current common treatments in RLNI. Methods: We searched the literature on PubMed and Web of Science, and chose studies about RLNI in thyroid surgery. Keywords included the following terms: "recurrent laryngeal nerve regeneration", "injection laryngoplasty", "type I thyroplasty", "arytenoid adduction", and "nerve tissue engineering technology". Only English language studies were included. In the section on nerve tissue engineering technology, we described the application in detail in the table below. Conclusions: Currently, the majority of treatments could obtain different effects to some extent, but there are still shortcomings that need to be overcome further overcome. Therefore, potential exploration such as nerve tissue engineering technology is worthy of attention.