To evaluate the restorative effect of spontaneous reinnervation in rats following recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) crush injury. Methods: Total 30 male rats were randomly divided into control or experimental groups, with 15 rats per group. Experimental group underwent right recurrent laryngeal nerve crush injury on a 5 mm segment. Control group was subject to nerve exposure but no nerve injury. General conditions, vocalization, vocal fold movements, nerve histology, and expression of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in thyroarytenoid muscle were evaluated at different time points 4, 8, and 12 weeks post-procedure. Results: Vocalization, vocal fold movements, and number of axons in experimental group rats were gradually restored with time and reached normal levels at week 12. Expression level of BDNF in the right thyroarytenoid muscle reached a minimum at week 4, then gradually increased until expression level far surpassed that of the control group at week 12 (P<0.05). Conclusion: Spontaneous reinnervation was present after RLN crush injury, and this ability may be closely related to the expression of neurotrophic factors.