Course

Origin: Vagus nerve

recurrent laryngeal nerve.jpg

Lies within pretracheal fascia
Posterior to trachea/thyroid
The left RLN passes under the arch of aorta
The right RLN hooks around the subclavian artery

RLN LLN course.png
thyroid relative to RLN.png

supply

supplies intrinsic laryngeal muscles except cricothyroid (internal laryngeal nerve)

action: abduction of vocal folds - see Intrinsic laryngeal movements
sensory supply to larynx below level of vocal folds

#anatomy-head-neck #peripheral-nerves

see also Laryngeal nerves