title: Does partial muscle reinnervation preserve future re-innervation potential?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Late revision nerve surgery for incomplete motor recovery due to partial reinnervation would improve muscle function if all muscle fibers were protected from developing denervation atrophy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty immature Sprague-Dawley rats underwent the following tibial nerve manipulations (n = 15/group): group A, partial denervation (two thirds of nerve resected and the remaining one third crushed), revision repair at 8 months; group B, partial denervation; group C, complete denervation, immediate reconstruction; group D, complete denervation, reconstruction at 8 months; and group E, control. Final testing at 11 months included muscle force, weight, and histology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Muscle weight was significantly (P < 0.05) different among all groups (highest to lowest: E > B > C > A > D), and force was significantly lower in groups A and D compared with E. Muscle fiber cross-sectional area was statistically smaller in group A than in groups B, C, or E.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Partial reinnervation still allowed substantial muscle recovery, but it did not preserve the non-innervated muscle fibers. Muscle Nerve 56: 1143-1148, 2017.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Isaacs
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Satya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mallu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shall
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Gaurangkumar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Shalin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Feger
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA.
authors.forename: Nikhil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pasula
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009121:Muscle Denervation / Q000379:methods*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: atrophy; denervation; muscle histology; partial nerve injury; revision nerve repair; rodent