NERVE GRAFTING FROM SPINAL-CORD TO SPINAL NERVE - A MICROSURGICAL TECHNIQUE IN CATS

A ventral surgical approach is described for the grafting of autologou s saphenous nerves between the spinal cord and the avulsed C7 ventral root in the cat. To overcome serious blood loss from the epidural veno us plexus, the cats were hyperventilated (end tidal P-CO2 to about 23 mmHg) and controlled hypotension was induced (mean arterial pressure t o about 60 mmHg). After selective avulsion of the ventral rootlets C7 the saphenous grafts were implanted into the spinal cord and coaptated to the avulsed spinal nerve. The combination of advanced anesthetic m ethods and microsurgical techniques appeared to be mandatory to achiev e a low surgical mortality. Regenerated axons were retrogradely traced using retrograde horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and their functional r ecovery was evaluated by means of electrophysiological methods.