Consequences of blocking the nerve with a local anaesthetic on the evolution of multiinnervation at the regenerating neuromuscular junction of the rat.

A transient multiinnervation is observed in adult rats during reinnervation of the soleus muscle. Chronic blockage of the sciatic nerve with a cuff of the local anaesthetic lidocaine during reinnervation increases the number of multiply innervated muscle fibres. This result indicates that the selective elimination of redundant nerve terminals is regulated by the activity of the innervated muscle.