Some factors affecting nerve regeneration in relation to radiotherapy.

The effect of delay and irradiation, both separately and combined, on regeneration of rat sciatic nerve was evaluated in adult Wistar rats. Those animals which had received irradiation at some stage fared significantly worse than those which had immediate division and reanastomosis of the sciatic nerve without irradiation. The possible relevance of these findings to nerve regeneration in patients treated by surgery and radiotherapy for parotid cancer is discussed.