Direct nerve implantation vs. nerve-muscle pedicle: a comparative study of reinnervation in the rabbit.

To determine the optimal method for reinnervation of the paralyzed head and neck musculature, we compared direct muscular nerve implants (DNI) with nerve-muscle pedicles (NMP) in rabbits. In 25 anesthetized animals, one ansa hypoglossi nerve was cut. Five animals served as controls and two groups of 10 each received cross-over DNIs or NMP from one sternothyroid to the contralateral sternohyoid muscle. The transplanted nerves of animals that survived long enough for neurotization to occur (8 DNIs, 5 NMPs) were stimulated with 3 to 10 mA. 0.05 msec pulse trains to obtain force curves from corresponding straps. Fiber diameters and areas were calculated on muscles harvested before the animals were killed. There was a nonsignificant trend toward stronger contraction in the NMP group, but NMP fibers were significantly larger than those in DNI and control groups (p less than 0.001).