title: Effect of electrical stimulation of the cranial tibial muscle after end-to-side neurorrhaphy of the peroneal nerve in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the efficiency of electrical stimulation in the muscle maintenance and nerve regeneration after end-to-side neurorrhaphy (ESN).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) were divided into four experimental groups. Control group (Control), Denervated Group (Denervated); Group with End-to-side neurorrhaphy (ESN); Group with End-to-side neurorrhaphy and electrical stimulation (ESN + ES). We perform electrical stimulation in rats after they had undergone muscle reinnervation by ESN. We collected morphometric and functional data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When comparing the mass of the treated side of cranial tibial muscle (CTM) and that of normal side of CTM, the group ESN + ES (26.12%) exhibited lower mass loss than that of group ESN (37.23%). The peroneal functional index showed that group ESN + ES equaled that of the Control group and showed an evolution of 60.5% while group ESN showed an evolution of 9.5%. In measuring maximum strength of CTM, the group ES + ESN outperformed group ESN. The muscle and nerve morphometry showed superiority of group ES+ESN over ESN group in all parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Electrical stimulation is an effective means of maintaining functional muscle and nerve regeneration after end-to-side neurorrhaphy.
authors: Institute of Health and Biotechnology, Federal University of Amazonas, Brazil. fabiooliveiramaciel@hotmail.com
authors: Fábio Oliveira
authors: FO
authors: Maciel
authors: Fausto
authors: F
authors: Viterbo
authors: Laís de Fátima Chuvukian
authors: Lde F
authors: Chinaque
authors: Bárbara Moraes
authors: BM
authors: Souza
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D008297:Male; D009121:Muscle Denervation; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D010543:Peroneal Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013536:Suture Techniques