Diagnostic value of intraoperative ultrasonography in assessing thoracic recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes in patients with esophageal cancer

The incidence of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury has increased due to RLN lymph node dissection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of intraoperative ultrasonography (IU) to detect RLN nodal metastases in esophageal cancer patients.