title: A rat model for intracranial facial nerve crush injuries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  (1) Explain the need for an animal model to study intracranial injuries to the facial nerve. (2) Describe various techniques attempted to identify and crush the intracranial segment of the facial nerve in a rat model. (3) Describe in detail a successful rat model of intracranial facial nerve crush injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled animal study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Animal laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multiple attempts at surgical approaches to the cerebellopontine angle were attempted on cadaveric rats. Once a successful approach was derived, this was used on 19 live rats under anesthesia. Fourteen rats had a 1-minute facial nerve crush performed, and 5 had a sham surgery with complete surgical exposure of the facial nerve but no crush. Rats were followed for a 12-week duration evaluating immediate postoperative facial nerve function, complications, and survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 14 (100%) rats that underwent surgery with crush injury had complete facial paralysis postoperatively. Complete facial paralysis was defined as loss of eye-blink reflex, flat vibrissae, and lack of vibrissae movement. The 5 sham surgery rats had complete facial function postoperatively. Surgery was performed by 2 separate surgeons with no difference in outcome between the 2. Complications occurred in only 1 animal (1/19, 5.3%), which was a corneal abrasion requiring sacrifice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our group describes a consistent method for performing an intracranial crush injury in the rat. This new model and its applications in translational facial nerve research are promising, particularly with tumors or lesions at the cerebellopontine angle.
authors: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, USA.
authors: Ryan C
authors: RC
authors: Burgette
authors: Brent J
authors: BJ
authors: Benscoter
authors: Gina N
authors: GN
authors: Monaco
authors: Matthew L
authors: ML
authors: Kircher
authors: Avinash V
authors: AV
authors: Mantravadi
authors: Sam J
authors: SJ
authors: Marzo
authors: Kathy J
authors: KJ
authors: Jones
authors: Eileen M
authors: EM
authors: Foecking
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020220:Facial Nerve Injuries; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012886:Skull