Peripheral nerve grafts: the relationship of axonal growth cone and biomechanical properties

Cat sciatic nerves containing 2 and 4 cm nerve grafts were subjected to tensile testing with the finding that a significant decrease in force at failure occurs at the distal suture line at a time after surgery that is graft length dependent. Tritiated labeling of regenerating axons and qualitative electromyography demonstrated that this effect was unrelated to the leading edge of the axonal growth cone, but temporally related to the functional reinnervation of denervated muscle.