Omental pedicle transposition and suture repair of peripheral nerve: A comparative study of functional, histological, morphometric and relative gastrocnemius muscle weight in rabbits

Abstract

The peripheral nervous system is able to regenerate after injury. Etiologies of injuries include penetrating injury, crush, traction, and ischemia compression. However, the presence of various nerve injury treatments such as coaptation and another technique to attain functional nerve regeneration are still inadequate. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of omental pedicle transposition and epineural nerve suture on peripheral nerve regeneration in a rabbit model. Ten male New Zealand white rabbits were divided into two groups. In the primary epineural repair group or control group (CG), the left sciatic nerve was skeletonized from the sciatic notch till the point of bifurcation. The nerve was transected at the mid shaft of the femoral bone and repaired with six epineural sutures. In the treatment group (TG), the epineural repaired sciatic nerve was wrapped with omental pedicle around the site of coaptation. Assessment of the nerve regeneration was based on functional (motor and sensory), histological, morphometric criteria and relative gastrocnemius muscle weight. The results of the examination show that the treated group had better regeneration and functional recovery.

Keywords: Omental pedicle, regeneration, hispathological, morphometric, sciatic nerve