title: Sensory reinnervation of muscle spindles after repair of tibial nerve defects using autogenous vein grafts.
abstract: Motor reinnervation after repair of tibial nerve defects using autologous vein grafts in rats has previously been reported, but sensory reinnervation after the same repair has not been fully investigated. In this study, partial sensory reinnervation of muscle spindles was observed after repair of 10-mm left tibial nerve defects using autologous vein grafts with end-to-end anastomosis in rats, and functional recovery was confirmed by electrophysiological studies. There were no significant differences in the number, size, or electrophysiological function of reinnervated muscle spindles between the two experimental groups. These findings suggest that repair of short nerve defects with autologous vein grafts provides comparable results to immediate end-to-end anastomosis in terms of sensory reinnervation of muscle spindles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, the 180 Hospital of Chinese PLA, Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Youwang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, the 180 Hospital of Chinese PLA, Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Qingnan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, the 180 Hospital of Chinese PLA, Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Jinan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
keywords: gastrocnemius muscle; muscle spindle; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurofilament protein H; peripheral nerve injury; tibial nerve; vein