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J Reconstr Microsurg 1989; 5(2): 137-140
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1006861
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

© 1989 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Relationship of Intraneural Damage in the Rat Sciatic Nerve to the Mechanism of Injury

Lawrence S. Zachary, A. Lee Dellon, William A. Seiler IV 
  • Departments of Plastic and Neurosurgery, University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Microsurgery Laboratory, Curtis Hand Center, Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
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Publication History

Accepted for publication 1989

Publication Date:
08 March 2008 (online)

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ABSTRACT

The degree of nerve injury is difficult to determine and varies according to the mechanism of injury. Experimental nerve avulsion, cut, crush, and saw injuries were produced in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The extent of nerve damage was assessed histologically and by intraoperative observations on days 1,8, and 21 post-injury. Nerve avulsions produced the most severe injury, followed by saw, crush, and cut mechanisms of injury. The intraoperative observations on day 1 were not predictors of the degree of injury at day 21. Avulsion injuries are most suitably treated secondarily by a nerve reconstruction technique, not by a primary repair.