Injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve is a major contraindication to thyroid surgery. The problems associated with injury are immediate: lowering of the voice, change of tone, hoarseness, difficulty in speaking, and, in more severe cases, difficulty in breathing. At present, all thyroid surgeries I perform require exploration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, and the success rate of exploration is 100%, i.e. all patients undergoing surgery are able to explore this nerve, which greatly avoids the occurrence of injury and ensures the safety of thyroid surgery. Zhu Jianwei, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Nantong University Hospital The nerve is white, flat, shiny, and varies in thickness from person to person (see the photo gallery of my surgery below). The picture below shows a comparison of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in different patients, with varying thicknesses but in a relatively fixed position.