The effect of a muscle wrap on nerve healing in a rat model

Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were studied to determine if peripheral nerve healing could be enhanced by translocation of an injured segment of sciatic nerve from an interfascial to an intramuscular environment. Group 1 (n = 12) were unoperated controls; Group 2 (n = 12) were sham-operated; Group 3 (n = 12) sustained an acute, double-crush injury to the sciatic nerve; and Group 4 (n = 12) sustained the same acute, double-crush injury as in Group 3, but the injured segment of nerve was transposed intramuscularly. All animals had sciatic function indices (SFI) computed at weekly intervals. At 2 weeks, Group 4 appeared to have improved gait function (SFI), compared to Group 3 (-39.7 vs. -56.4, p < 0.08). The experiment was repeated for Groups 3 and 4 using two groups of six additional rats each. The data were collected three times for each rat in the second experiment. No statistically significant differences in return of gait function or in nerve conduction evaluation could be demonstrated between the two study groups. From the results of this study, it appears that an intramuscular location does not enhance nerve recovery, compared to an interfascial location.