Experimental study of regeneration of motor end plate

Twenty-five Wistar rats and five dogs were used in this study. The common peroneal nerve connected with a segment of nerve graft was divided into fascicles or subfascicles and then inserted into the superficial muscular fibers of the lateral head of the gastrocnemius. The motor nerve supplying this muscle was deliberately cut away during the operation. Electrograms muscular strength, optic and electron-microscopic, and histochemical examinations were studied 2 to 12 months postoperatively. New motor end plates and good muscular activity of the neurotized lateral head of the denervated gastrocnemius were demonstrated. This experimental result is useful for clinical applications of the method.