title: Quantitative assessment of the motor-sensory specificity of the motor and primary sensory neurons after the end-to-side neurorrhaphy.
abstract: We sought to evaluate the motor-sensory specificity of the motor and primary sensory neurons after the end-to-side neurorrhaphy. We divided 90 rats into three groups: (1) end-to-side neurorrhaphy using the ulnar nerve as donor nerve and the musculocutaneous nerve as recipient nerve; (2) normal control; and (3) transected nerve with the stumps buried. At 5 months, we monitored the grooming test, the electromyographic recordings, the histologic changes in the nerve, and quantitatively evaluated motoneurons and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons following their retrograde labeling by Fluoro-Gold (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) applied to the musculocutaneous nerve and its biceps brachii branch. Grooming and electrophysiological investigations recovered successfully in the end-to-side group. The implanted musculocutaneous nerve contained varying but satisfactory numbers of axons. In the end-to-side group, the proportion of motoneurons for the biceps brachii branch of musculocutaneous nerve was very similar to the musculocutaneous nerve sections proximal to this branch (17.3% ± 2.7% and 21.7% ± 3.7%, respectively), but it did not correspond with the proportion of the biceps brachii branch of musculocutaneous nerve in the normal group (28.3% ± 3.5%). The present study confirms that limited but functional reinnervation can occur after the end-to-side neurorrhaphy, and the motor-sensory specificity is not important.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Chengwang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yonglong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Weiyang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D004576:Electromyography; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation*; D009138:Musculocutaneous Nerve / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*