title: Ankle kinematics to evaluate functional recovery in crushed rat sciatic nerve.
abstract: Peripheral nerve researchers frequently use the rat sciatic nerve crush model in order to test different therapeutic approaches. The purpose of this study was to determine the sequence of changes after an axonotmetic injury by means of a biomechanical model of the foot and ankle, and compare them with walking track analysis, over a fixed period of time. A kinematic analysis program was used to acquire ankle motion data for further analysis. Although repeated measures analysis of variance showed significant cumulative changes induced by the crush lesion for both ankle kinematic parameters and sciatic functional index, post-hoc multiple comparisons by the Student-Neuman-Keuls test revealed significant differences between week 0 and week 8 only for ankle kinematics. These results are of importance in showing the superiority of ankle kinematics in detecting small biomechanical deficits related to hyperexcitability of the plantarflexor muscles, in contrast with walking track analysis, which showed full motor functional recovery 8 weeks after the crush lesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Veterinary Clinics, CETAV, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-911 Vila Real, Portugal. avarejao@utad.pt
authors.forename: Artur S P
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Varejão
authors.forename: António M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cabrita
authors.forename: Marcel F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Meek
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bulas-Cruz
authors.forename: Vitor M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Filipe
authors.forename: Ronaldo C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.forename: António J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geuna
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Winter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000842:Ankle / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003714:Denervation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007794:Lameness, Animal / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors