A 38-year-old woman undergoes total thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma. Intraoperatively, during dissection of the right lobe near the inferior thyroid artery, the surgeon notices the patient's vocal cords are no longer abducting on the right side when checked via laryngoscopy. The left vocal cord remains mobile. The surgeon has already ligated the inferior thyroid artery on the right. What is the most appropriate immediate intraoperative management?

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