Acceleration of peripheral nerve regeneration after crush injury in rat.

It the sciatic nerve of a rat is crushed in the thigh, axons from the proximal side of the crush will regenerate so that the toe-spreading reflex becomes observable again after 10.4 +/- 1.7 (mean +/- S.D.) days. If the nerve is electrically stimulated for 0.25-1.0 h at the crush site, just after the crush occurs, the toe-spreading reflex first becomes observable 4.14 +/- 1.6 (mean +/- S.D.) days after the crush. Stimulation is most effective if delivered immediately after the crush but can be delayed up to an hour and still cause significantly faster regeneration. This phenomenon could be useful in clinical management of crushed peripheral nerves.