title: The contribution of ischaemia and deformation to the conduction block generated by compression of the cat sciatic nerve.
abstract: The pattern of conduction block induced in cat peripheral nerve by compression has been investigated electrophysiologically by recording unitary action potentials. A degree of compression, associated with chronic compression disorders in man, was applied to the cat sciatic nerve and resulted in a conduction block typified by early failure of the slow conducting myelinated axons. By contrast, a greater degree of compression, a degree more likely to result in acute compression lesions, produced a different pattern of effect, inducing early conduction failure in the fast conducting myelinated axons. These results are related to earlier studies which have shown that nerve deformation during compression has a differential action upon fast myelinated axons, while nerve ischaemia has a differential action upon slow myelinated axons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University College London.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fern
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Harrison
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D002415:Cats; D007511:Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology; D009431:Neural Conduction; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*