Tubular nerve guide and epineurial repair: comparison of techniques for neurorrhaphy.

Experiments were conducted on 36 male, Sprague-Dawley rats. In 10 animals, neurorrhaphy was performed on the peroneal nerve with epineurial repair and, in 11 animals, with a tubular polyethylene nerve guide. The authors tested the hypothesis that, following transient denervation of a skeletal muscle by transection of a peroneal nerve, the restoration of maximum force and of maximum specific force developed after insertion of a tubular nerve guide, will not be different from that developed after microsurgical epineurial neurorrhaphy. The contractile properties of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle, innervated by the peroneal nerve, were evaluated after an average of 116 days. The maximum tetanic force of EDL muscles with epineurial repair and nerve guide were 84 percent and 75 percent, respectively, of the value for control EDL muscles. The specific forces of the muscles in both groups were not different from the control values. The conclusion is that, following stabilization after transection and repair, each of the two methods was equally effective in restoring the ability of the muscle to develop force.