Low-Current Stimulation for Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Protection During Thyroid Surgery

July 10, 2026 updated by: Siqi Li, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University

Clinical Utility of Low-Current Stimulation for Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Protection During Thyroid Surgery: A Single-Center Prospective Randomized Interventional Study

This single-center prospective randomized interventional study evaluated whether intraoperative low-current stimulation could assist recurrent laryngeal nerve localization and reduce temporary recurrent laryngeal nerve injury during thyroid surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

A total of 150 patients undergoing thyroid surgery at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University were randomly allocated in a 1:1:1 ratio to conventional anatomical identification, 3 mA low-current stimulation, or 5 mA low-current stimulation. All participants underwent preoperative and postoperative electronic laryngoscopy. The primary outcome was temporary recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. Secondary outcomes included permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, operative duration, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, and stimulation-related adverse events.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
150

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Yunnan
      • Kunming, Yunnan, China, 650000
        • The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients scheduled for thyroid surgery.
  • No history of prior thyroid or neck surgery.
  • Normal bilateral vocal cord mobility on preoperative electronic laryngoscopy.
  • Written informed consent provided before enrollment.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Preoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve dysfunction.
  • Previous neck surgery.
  • Incomplete clinical data.
  • Severe comorbidities precluding standardized perioperative assessment.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
No Intervention: Control group
Participants underwent conventional anatomical identification and preservation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery.
Experimental: 3 mA group
Participants underwent 3 mA low-current stimulation-assisted recurrent laryngeal nerve identification in addition to conventional anatomical identification.
Procedure: 3 mA low-current stimulation-assisted recurrent laryngeal nerve identification
Low-current stimulation at 3 mA was used as an adjunct to anatomical recurrent laryngeal nerve identification. Response was judged according to visible or palpable laryngeal twitch.
Experimental: 5 mA group
Participants underwent 5 mA low-current stimulation-assisted recurrent laryngeal nerve identification in addition to conventional anatomical identification.
Procedure: 5 mA low-current stimulation-assisted recurrent laryngeal nerve identification
Low-current stimulation at 5 mA was used as an adjunct to anatomical recurrent laryngeal nerve identification. Response was judged according to visible or palpable laryngeal twitch.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Permanent Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injury Confirmed by Electronic Laryngoscopy
Time Frame: 6 months after surgery
Permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury is defined as unilateral or bilateral vocal cord paresis or paralysis detected after surgery and still present at the 6-month postoperative assessment, as confirmed by electronic laryngoscopy. The number of participants meeting this definition will be reported.
6 months after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Vocal Cord Paresis or Paralysis Persisting at 6 Months, as Assessed by Electronic Laryngoscopy
Time Frame: 6 months after surgery
Permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury is defined as unilateral or bilateral vocal cord paresis or paralysis detected after surgery and still present at the 6-month postoperative assessment, as confirmed by electronic laryngoscopy. The number of participants meeting this definition will be reported.
6 months after surgery
Total Operative Duration in Minutes
Time Frame: Intraoperative period
Total operative duration will be measured in minutes from the initial skin incision to completion of skin closure.
Intraoperative period
Intraoperative blood loss
Time Frame: Intraoperative period
Estimated intraoperative blood loss measured in milliliters.
Intraoperative period
Duration of Postoperative Hospital Stay in Days
Time Frame: From the date of surgery until hospital discharge, assessed up to 30 days after surgery
Postoperative hospital stay will be calculated as the number of calendar days from the date of surgery to the date of hospital discharge.
From the date of surgery until hospital discharge, assessed up to 30 days after surgery
Number of Participants With Stimulation-Related Adverse Events
Time Frame: From initiation of intraoperative nerve stimulation through 30 days after surgery
The number of participants experiencing at least one stimulation-related adverse event will be reported. Stimulation-related adverse events include suspected thermal injury, arrhythmia, hemodynamic instability, muscle burn, overstimulation, or suspected false-negative nerve localization, as documented in the intraoperative and postoperative medical records.
From initiation of intraoperative nerve stimulation through 30 days after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Siqi Li, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 10, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • RLN-LCS-2024-001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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