[Functional and morphologic studies on the reinnervation of the replanted rabbit external ear].

Disturbances observed int he thermoregulation of replanted extremities were the stimulus for this experimental study. We chose the auricular conchae of rabbits as an experimental model, as these show--as do the fingers--innervation with the sympathic nervous system and fulfil thermoregulatoric functions. Twenty-five of thirty auricular conchae of rabbits took completely after amputation and replantation. Blood flow measurements with 133 Xenon, thermographic and histologic examinations were performed. Thermography showed dysfunction with temperature provocation even one year after replantation. Histological examinations revealed partly deficient reinnervation in vessels and also in cutaneous appendages.