Intraoperative nerve monitoring during esophagectomy reduces the risk of recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy

Background Despite the risk of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy during esophagectomy, no established method of monitoring RLN injury is currently available. Methods This study included 187 patients who underwent esophagectomy between 2011 and 2018. Among these, intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) was done in 142 patients (IONM group), while the remaining 45 patients underwent conventional surgery without IONM (control group). We investigated the incidence of postoperative complications with regard to the use of IONM. Results The overall incidence of postoperative RLN palsy was 28% (52/187). The IONM group showed a significantly lower incidence of postoperative RLN palsy as compared to that in the control group (p = 0.004). The overall incidence of postoperative pneumonia was 22% (41/187) in those with Clavien–Dindo (CD) classification beyond grade 2. There were no significant differences between the incidence of any grade of postoperative pneumonia and the use of IONM (p = 0.195 and 0.333; CD > 2 and > 3, respectively). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that tumors in the upper third [odds ratio (OR) 3.12; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–9.29] and lack of IONM use (OR 2.51; 95% CI 1.17–5.38) were independent factors causing postoperative RLN palsy after esophagectomy. Conclusion IONM helps to reduce the risk of postoperative RLN palsy after esophageal cancer surgery.