The thyroid gland is closely related to the recurrent laryngeal nerves. After branching from the vagus nerve [X] and looping around the subclavian artery on the right and the arch of the aorta on the left, the recurrent laryngeal nerves ascend in a groove between the trachea and esophagus (Fig. 8.180). They pass deep to the posteromedial surface of the lateral lobes of the thyroid gland and enter the larynx by passing deep to the lower margin of the inferior constrictor of the pharynx.