Sensory reinnervation of muscles following nerve section and suture in cats.
The common peroneal nerve was transected and repaired by epineurial suture in nine cats. In a further nine the nerve was transected twice and similarly repaired so as to produce a short autograft. Recovery of stretch receptors in peroneus brevis was monitored histologically and physiologically from six to fifty weeks. In recovery after single neurotomy functionally identifiable muscle-spindle and tendon-organ afferents were reduced to 25% and 45% of normal, respectively; after double neurotomy (autograft) both were reduced to about 10% of normal. Muscle spindles were reinnervated with annulospiral terminals, or wholly abnormal fine axon terminals, or both. Recovery evidently entails not only a reduction in number of stretch afferents, but also the making of some incorrect reconnections that presumably result in abnormal proprioceptive feedback and reflex action. When a graft is used the sensory impairment is compounded.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000294:innervation; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D009470:Muscle Spindles / Q000502:physiology; D009132:Muscles / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology; D009431:Neural Conduction; D010543:Peroneal Nerve / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery*; D011434:Proprioception; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D013537:Sutures; D013710:Tendons / Q000294:innervation