Peroneal motor nerve crush injury and hyperbaric oxygen effect

Abstract

The potential therapeutic effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) after rat peroneal nerve crush was evaluated. Animals were given 100% oxygen at 2.5 atmosphere absolute for 90 minutes twice daily for 1 week and then once daily for 1 week. Edema increased in crushed nerves compared with control nerves, but no effect was associated with the administration of HBO. Gait analysis demonstrated injury at 1, 7, and 14 days after nerve crush, but no difference was found at 22 and 28 days after injury (analysis of variance: P < .001, 10 animals per group). Eight weeks after injury, nerve stimulation and muscle force measurements were 114 g for the injured group and 146 g for the control group (P < .001). There were no HBO-associated changes in gait parameter or nerve/muscle force measurements. This study demonstrated that rat peroneal nerve crush injury causes acute intraneural edema and temporary decrement of gait parameters. Elicited nerve stimulation demonstrated persistent loss of force 4 weeks after normalization of gait, but no HBO effect.

Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on the regeneration of experimental crush injuries of nerves

“…Results observed in this study agreed with the experiment performed by Santos et al 4 using crush injury, although the authors had used the fibular nerve and a different HBO schedule. Fibular nerve has better vascularization, compared to sciatic nerve.…”

“…Previous reports showed improve on functional recovery after rat sciatic nerve transection and autologous graft with the use of HBO 2,3 . On the other hand, the same was not observed in transections treated with tubulization 1 , and in crush injuries of rat fibular nerves 4 .…”

“…However, the same results were not seen with nerve tubulization after transection 1 , and in crush injuries of rat fibular nerves 4 .…”

“…Fibular nerve has better vascularization, compared to sciatic nerve. Although both have perineurial circulation, the fibular nerve has better vascularization because of its smaller transverse section area 4 . This difference seems not to interfere with functional evaluation after crush injuries of nerves in animals exposed to HBO.…”

“…Fibular nerve has better vascularization, compared to sciatic nerve, due to its smaller transverse section area 4 . The present study was designed to evaluate the influence of HBO in the functional recovery after crush injury in rats, using the sciatic nerve, which is theoretically more susceptible to ischemia than the fibular nerve.…”