Dv. Lenihan et al., STIMULATED JITTER MEASUREMENT IN THE ASSESSMENT OF RECOVERY AFTER DIFFERENT METHODS OF PERIPHERAL-NERVE REPAIR, Journal of hand surgery. British volume, 23B(1), 1998, pp. 12-16
The recording of stimulated jitter offers a quantitative method for fo
llowing the recovery of neuromuscular function after peripheral nerve
repair, In groups of rats, electrophysiological recording of jitter wa
s carried out on control animals and on animals 90 days after sciatic
nerve division and subsequent repair with either direct end-to-end sut
ure (NS), nerve graft (NG) or freeze thawed muscle graft (FTMG). It wa
s found that values for jitter were highest in the FTMG group. The NS
and NG groups demonstrated statistically similar jitter values when co
mpared with each other and with the normal, It was concluded that the
speed of nerve regeneration is slower in the FTMG group, at least init
ially, and that 90 days after sciatic nerve repair the FMTG group had
an increase in the number of immature neuromuscular junctions when com
pared with the NS or NG groups. Jitter measurement would appear to off
er a means of detecting small differences in nerve regeneration. The v
alue of this in future developments in nerve repair is discussed.