Anatomy and motor function of extra-laryngeal branching patterns of the recurrent laryngeal nerve; an electrophysiological study of 1001 nerves at risk.

The ETB prevalence is high and showing division points in different cervical segments of the RLN. All anterior branches and some posterior branches contain motor fibers. Knowledge and awareness of these anatomic and functional variations are mandatory for every thyroid surgeon to avoid misidentification and misinterpretation of human RLN anatomy.