title: The neuronal regulation of fracture healing. Effects of sciatic nerve resection in rat tibia.
abstract: The effect of sciatic nerve resection on tibial fracture healing was studied in rats 25 days post-trauma. To prevent differences in loading between sham-operated and nerve-resected animals the fractured limbs were cast-immobilized. On radiograms 8 of 11 fractures in the sham-operated animals showed very little callus formation in contrast to only 1 of 8 fractures in the group with nerve resection. Measured by single-photon absorptiometry, animals with sciatic nerve resection had a higher bone mineral content than the sham-operated animals. However, the mechanical strength in three-point cantilever bending was not better in the nerve-resected rats, implying a defective organization of the large callus. These results suggest neural regulation plays a role in the type of fracture healing, primary or secondary, and in the amount and quality of the callus.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Surgical Research, Rikshospitalet (The National Hospital), University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nordsletten
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Almaas
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rootwelt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Halse
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Konttinen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hukkanen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santavirta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal; D017102:Fracture Healing / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D011859:Radiography; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013977:Tibia / Q000294:innervation / Q000473:pathology; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery