Superior Laryngeal Nerve Monitoring

Interest on the surgical anatomy, neurophysiology, and pathology of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN) increased in last two decades due to higher attentiveness and relevance from both clinician and patient for the possible consequence of EBSLN injury in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. IONM is increasingly performed in endocrine surgery due to a significant improvement of the technical aspects, devices, and evidences evolutions. The recent international standards guideline statement on EBSLN monitoring highlighted in detail the advantages of IONM for accurate, early, and definitive identification and preservation of the EBSLN during thyroidectomy. This chapter is a review of the evidence-based literature and the cumulative experience of the authors with EBSLN monitoring technique.