Peripheral nerve injury

It is essential to understand the considerable variations in bifurcation patterns of the tibial nerve (TN) and its peripheral nerves at the level of the tarsal tunnel to prevent iatrogenic nerve injury during surgical nerve release or nerve block. A total of 16 ankles of 8 human cadavers were dissected to investigate the branching patterns of the TN, using 2 imaginary lines passing through the tip of the medial malleolus (MM) as reference lines. Bifurcation patterns and detailed information on the relative locations of the medial plantar, lateral plantar, medial calcaneal, and inferior calcaneal nerves to the reference lines were recorded...

Peripheral nerve injuries can lead to sensory or motor deficits that have a serious impact on a patient's mental health and quality of life. Nevertheless, it remains a major clinical challenge to develop functional nerve conduits as an alternative to autologous grafts. We applied reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as a bioactive conductive material to impart electrophysiological properties to the catheter and the application of a pulsed magnetic field to excite the formation of microcurrents and induce nerve regeneration...

From the first surgical repair of a nerve in the 6th century, progress in the field of peripheral nerve surgery has marched on; at first slowly but today at great pace. Whether performing primary neurorrhaphy or managing multiple large nerve defects, the modern nerve surgeon has an extensive range of tools, techniques and choices available to them. Continuous innovation in surgical equipment and technique has enabled the maturation of autografting as a gold standard for reconstruction and welcomed the era of nerve transfer techniques all while bioengineers have continued to add to our armamentarium with implantable devices, such as conduits and acellular allografts...

The appearance of contralateral effects after unilateral injury has been shown in various experimental pain models, as well as in clinics. They consist of a diversity of phenomena in contralateral peripheral nerves, sensory ganglia, or spinal cord: from structural changes and altered gene or protein expression to functional consequences such as the development of mirror-image pain (MP). Although MP is a well-documented phenomenon, the exact molecular mechanism underlying the induction and maintenance of mirror-like spread of pain is still an unresolved challenge...

BACKGROUND: Aortic surgery successfully improves the prognosis of patients with type A aortic dissection. However, total arch replacement and reconstruction remain challenging. This study presents a new surgical modality, the in-situ stent-graft fenestration (ISSF) technique, for simplifying aortic arch reconstruction and assesses its short-term efficacy and safety in patients with type A aortic dissection. METHODS: Data from 177 patients with type A aortic dissection who underwent aortic arch reconstruction were retrospectively analyzed...

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) resulting from trauma or neuropathies can cause significant disability, and its prognosis deteriorates with age. Emerging evidence suggests that gut dysbiosis and reduced fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) contribute to an age-related systemic hyperinflammation (inflammaging), which hinders nerve recovery after injury. This study thus aimed to evaluate the pro-regenerative effects of a rejuvenating fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) in a preclinical PNI model using aged mice...

Tendon injury produces intractable pain and disability in movement, but the medications for analgesia and restoring functional integrity of tendon are still limited. In this study, we report that proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) activation in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons contributes to chronic pain and tendon histopathological changes produced by Achilles tendon partial transection injury (TTI). Tendon partial transection injury increases the expression of PAR2 protein in both somata of DRG neurons and their peripheral terminals within the injured Achilles tendon...

Repair strategies for injured peripheral nerve have achieved great progresses in recent years. However, the clinical outcomes remain unsatisfactory. Recent studies have found that exosomes secreted by dental pulp stem cells (DPSC-exos) have great potential for applications in nerve repair. In this study, we evaluated the effects of human DPSC-exos on improving peripheral nerve regeneration. Initially, we established a coculture system between DPSCs and Schwann cells (SCs) in vitro to assess the effect of DPSC-exos on the activity of embryonic dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRGs) growth in SCs...

BACKGROUND: We present a case with abnormal findings of initial motor-evoked potential (MEP) in the left upper limb after prone positioning during lumbar spine surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: A 71-year-old man with bilateral lower extremity numbness without a history of preexisting motor weakness underwent L3-5 spinal fenestration. Initial MEP monitoring after prone positioning revealed markedly prolonged latency and lower amplitude in the left abductor pollicis brevis (APB)...

Intraneural hematoma is a rare disease that results in an impaired nerve function because of bleeding around the peripheral nerve, with only 20 cases reported. Trauma, neoplasm, and bleeding disorders are known factors for intraneural hematoma. However, here we report atypical features of asymptomatic and spontaneous intraneural hematoma which are difficult to diagnose. A 60-year-old woman visited our clinic with the complaint of a palpable mass on the right calf. She reported no medical history or trauma to the right calf and laboratory findings showed normal coagulopathy...

JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202412000-00028/figure1/v/2024-04-08T165401Z/r/image-tiff Immune changes and inflammatory responses have been identified as central events in the pathological process of spinal cord injury. They can greatly affect nerve regeneration and functional recovery. However, there is still limited understanding of the peripheral immune inflammatory response in spinal cord injury. In this study, we obtained microRNA expression profiles from the peripheral blood of patients with spinal cord injury using high-throughput sequencing...

Neuropathic pain is a chronic debilitating condition caused by nerve injury or a variety of diseases. At the core of neuropathic pain lies the aberrant neuronal excitability in the peripheral and/or central nervous system (PNS and CNS). Enhanced connexin expression and abnormal activation of connexin-assembled gap junctional channels are prominent in neuropathic pain along with reactive gliosis, contributing to neuronal hypersensitivity and hyperexcitability. In this review, we delve into the current understanding of how connexin expression and function contribute to the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of neuropathic pain and argue for connexins as potential therapeutic targets for neuropathic pain management...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: <p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, frequently result in mood disorders among affected individuals. It is established that neuropathic pain arising from traumatic neuropathies is also linked to mood disorders. This study investigates the influence of neuropathic pain on the development of mood disorders in earthquake survivors with peripheral nerve injuries, following the earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023...

<p>Peripheral nerve injuries after being struck by lightning have been documented. Here, we report a case of cauda equina syndrome induced by lightning. A 27-year-old man presented with numbness, a burning sensation in the saddle region, and increased urinary urgency after being struck by lightning. He had absent Achilles reflexes and paresthesia in the saddle region upon neurological examination, and magnetic resonance imaging of the spine was normal. Electrophysiological studies indicated involvement of bilateral L5, S1, and S2 myotomes and revealed cauda equina lesions...

Exosomes are the smallest subset of extracellular signaling vesicles secreted by most cells with the ability to communicate with other tissues and cell types over long distances. Their use in regenerative medicine has gained tremendous momentum recently due to their ability to be utilized as therapeutic options for a wide array of diseases/conditions. Over 5000 publications are currently being published yearly on this topic, and this number is only expected to dramatically increase as novel therapeutic strategies continue to be developed...

Collective cell migration is fundamental for the development of organisms and in the adult, for tissue regeneration and in pathological conditions such as cancer. Migration as a coherent group requires the maintenance of cell-cell interactions, while contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL), a local repulsive force, can propel the group forward. Here we show that the cell-cell interaction molecule, N-cadherin, regulates both adhesion and repulsion processes during rat Schwann cell (SC) collective migration, which is required for peripheral nerve regeneration...

It is well-established that spinal microglia and peripheral macrophages play critical roles in the etiology of neuropathic pain; however, growing evidence suggests sex differences in pain hypersensitivity owing to microglia and macrophages. Therefore, it is crucial to understand sex- and androgen-dependent characteristics of pain-related myeloid cells in mice with nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain. To deplete microglia and macrophages, pexidartinib (PLX3397), an inhibitor of the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor, was orally administered, and mice were subjected to partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSL)...

OBJECTIVE: On 6 February 2023, 2 earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6 mW occurred in Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş province (Turkey) and affected 11 provinces in total, especially Hatay, Malatya, and Adıyaman. Here, we report 3 earthquake victims in order to define patients profiles. CASE REPORTS: Three patients who were taken to the orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation program in our inpatient Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation unit after the earthquake are presented...

The transcription repressor REST in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is upregulated by peripheral nerve injury and promotes the development of chronic pain. However, the genes targeted by REST in neuropathic pain development remain unclear. The expression levels of 4 opioid receptor ( Oprm1 , Oprd1 , Oprl1 , Oprk1) and the cannabinoid CB1 receptor ( Cnr1 ) genes in the DRG regulate nociception. In this study, we determined the role of REST in the control of their expression in the DRG induced by spared nerve injury (SNI) in both male and female mice...

Hearing loss can lead to long-lasting effects on the central nervous system, and current therapies, such as auditory training and rehabilitation, show mixed success in improving perception and speech comprehension. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an adjunctive therapy that can be paired with rehabilitation to facilitate behavioral recovery after neural injury. However, VNS for auditory recovery has not been tested after severe hearing loss or significant damage to peripheral receptors. This study investigated the utility of pairing VNS with passive or active auditory rehabilitation in a rat model of noise-induced hearing loss...