title: Tibial nerve function during tibial lengthening. Measurement of nerve conduction and blood flow in rabbits.
abstract: We evaluated in 20 Japanese white rabbits the effects of tibial lengthening on tibial nerve conduction and intraneural blood flow at the end of lengthening. Both tibiae were distracted 1 mm per day. The distraction frequency was in 2 steps (0.5 mm/12 h) on the right side and in 120 steps (0.0083 mm/12 min) on the left. The rabbits were separated into 4 subgroups based on the percentage of lengthening: 0 (control), 10, 20, and 30 percent. In the 2-step group, nerve conduction was delayed at 20 and 30 percent lengthening, compared to the control group, while in the 120-step group, it was delayed only at 30 percent lengthening. Intraneural blood flow in the 2-step group was decreased at 10, 20, and 30 percent lengthenings, while in the 120-step group it was reduced at 30 percent lengthening. Our findings indicate that an increase in the frequency of distraction reduces the impairment of nerve function during bone lengthening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizumoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mizuta
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takagi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001852:Bone Lengthening; D009431:Neural Conduction; D011817:Rabbits; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013977:Tibia / Q000098:blood supply / Q000601:surgery*; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology*