Refining postoperative monitoring of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in esophagectomy patients through transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography.

Background: Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (RLNI) leading to vocal cord paralysis (VCP) is a significant complication following minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) with upper mediastinal lymphadenectomy. Transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography (TLUSG) has emerged as a non-invasive alternative to endoscopic examination for evaluating vocal cord function. Our study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of TLUSG in detecting RLNI by evaluating vocal cord movement after MIE.

Methods: This retrospective study examined 96 patients with esophageal cancer who underwent MIE between January 2021 and December 2022, using both TLUSG and endoscopy.

Results: VCP was observed in 36 out of 96 patients (37.5%). The incidence of RLNI was significantly higher on the left side than the right (29.2% vs. 5.2%, P < 0.001). Postoperative TLUSG showed a sensitivity and specificity of 88.5% (31/35) and 86.5% (45/52), respectively, with an AUC of 0.869 (P < 0.001, 95% CI 0.787-0.952). The percentage agreement between TLUSG and endoscopy in assessing VCP was 87.4% (κ = 0.743).

Conclusions: TLUSG is a highly effective screening tool for VCP, given its high sensitivity and specificity. This can potentially eliminate the need for unnecessary endoscopies in about 80% of patients who have undergone MIE.