J Reconstr Microsurg 2013; 29(09): 579-586
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1348036
Original Article
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Quantitative Assessment of the Motor–Sensory Specificity of the Motor and Primary Sensory Neurons after the End-to-Side Neurorrhaphy

Qing Yu
1   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China
,
Chengwang Chen
1   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China
,
Xiaolei Zhang
1   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China
,
Lei lv
1   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China
,
Kang Lin
1   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China
,
Yonglong Chi
1   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China
,
Weiyang Gao
1   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

18 September 2012

29 March 2013

Publication Date:
11 June 2013 (online)

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Abstract

We sought to evaluate the motor–sensory specificity of the motor and primary sensory neurons after the end-to-side neurorrhaphy. We divided 90 rats into three groups: (1) end-to-side neurorrhaphy using the ulnar nerve as donor nerve and the musculocutaneous nerve as recipient nerve; (2) normal control; and (3) transected nerve with the stumps buried. At 5 months, we monitored the grooming test, the electromyographic recordings, the histologic changes in the nerve, and quantitatively evaluated motoneurons and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons following their retrograde labeling by Fluoro-Gold (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) applied to the musculocutaneous nerve and its biceps brachii branch. Grooming and electrophysiological investigations recovered successfully in the end-to-side group. The implanted musculocutaneous nerve contained varying but satisfactory numbers of axons. In the end-to-side group, the proportion of motoneurons for the biceps brachii branch of musculocutaneous nerve was very similar to the musculocutaneous nerve sections proximal to this branch (17.3% ± 2.7% and 21.7% ± 3.7%, respectively), but it did not correspond with the proportion of the biceps brachii branch of musculocutaneous nerve in the normal group (28.3% ± 3.5%). The present study confirms that limited but functional reinnervation can occur after the end-to-side neurorrhaphy, and the motor–sensory specificity is not important.