Successful esophageal carcinoma resection with intraoperative neuromonitoring in a patient with non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve

Right non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve is a rare nerve anomaly that communicates the right vagal nerve trunk to the laryngeal nerve directly in the neck, and is usually accompanied by an aberrant right subclavian artery. We report a case of thoracic esophagectomy with intraoperative neuromonitoring undertaken in a patient with these abnormalities. This case report concerns a 66-year-old man with thoracic esophageal carcinoma who was referred to our hospital. An aberrant right subclavian artery that gave us a prediction of a right non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve was detected preoperatively using computed tomography, and identified visually with intraoperative neuromonitoring. Identification of this nerve anomaly during cervical lymph node dissection was considered important to avoid unexpected neural injuries. For a successful esophagectomy with lymph node dissection in patients with this anomaly, intraoperative neuromonitoring for the non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve may provide a useful contribution to surgical safety.