This study purposed to examine the effect of low power laser on pain response and axonal regeneration. In order to prepare peripheral nerve injury models, we crushed the sciatic nerve of Sprague-Dawley rats and treated them with low power laser for 21 days. The rats were divided into 4 groups: normal group(n=10); control group(n=10) without any treatment after the induction of sciatic nerve crush injury; experimental group I(n=10) treated with low power laser(0.21mJ/㎟) after the induction of sciatic nerve crush injury; and experimental group II(n=10) treated with low power laser(5.25mJ/㎟) after the induction of sciatic nerve crush injury. We measured spontaneous pain behavior(paw withdrawal latency test) and mechanical allodynia(von Frey filament test) for evaluating pain behavioral response, and measured the sciatic function index for evaluating the functional recovery of peripheral nerve before the induction of sciatic nerve crush injury and on day 1, 7, 14 and 21 after the induction. After the experiment was completed, changes in the H & E stain and toluidine blue stain were examined histopathologically, and changes in MAG(myelin associated glycoprotein) and c-fos were examined immunohistologically. According to the results of this study, when low power laser was applied to rat models with sciatic nerve crush injury for 21 days and the results were examined through pain behavior evaluation and neurobehavioral, histopathological and immunohistological analyses, low power laser was found to affect pain response and axonal regeneration in both experimental group I and experimental group II. Moreover, the effect on pain response and axonal regeneration was more positive in experimental group I to which output 0.21mJ/㎟ was applied than in experimental group II to which 5.25mJ/㎟ was applied.

This study demonstrated that hyaluronic acid (HA) accelerated peripheral nerve regeneration after crush injury to the common peroneal nerve in an experimental rabbit model. Ten male New Zealand White rabbits, weighing 1.8 to 2.0 kg, were used in this study. After creating the nerve crush model in every right leg, rabbits were divided into two groups. Animals in group A received application of HA into the area surrounding the crushed nerve, and group B was the sham control. Electrophysiological assessment was performed every week. After 10 weeks, nerve histological examination, muscle weight and muscle histology were used to evaluate regeneration of the injured common peroneal nerve. No differences in electrophysiological assessment were observed between the two groups. In peripheral nerve histology, myelinated nerve fibers were observed more frequently and less connective tissue was observed in the crushed nerve of group A. Fewer muscle degenerative changes, such as fibrosis, atrophy, and centrally located myonuclei, were detected in group A than in group B. In conclusion, HA could become a potential neuroprotective agent for improvement of peripheral nerve regeneration after crush injury.

Peripheral nerve injuries are very common in clinics and often result in severe functional deficits. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of treadmill running and electro-acupuncture on nerve regeneration and functional recovery of muscle activity following sciatic nerve crush injury in a rat model. A comparative study was conducted over 30 days on 60 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats grouped into sham control (C), electro-acupuncture (EA), treadmill (T), and treadmill plus electro-acupuncture (TEA). The left sciatic nerve was crushed for 30 sec using a hemostatic forceps and functional activity was evaluated with sciatic functional tests, nerve conduct velocity, muscle weight, and histology at 10, 20, and 30 days after injury. Muscle weight was significantly (P<0.05) increased between days 10 and 30 in the TEA group. In histology, the degree of damage was scored as C > TEA > T > EA, although necrosis and fibrosis of muscle was observed only in the TEA group. The EA and TEA groups showed rapid recovery with better myelinated axons on day 10. These results suggest that application of the TEA method with balanced exercise is a useful treatment option for peripheral nerve injury regeneration and muscle activity.

본 증례연구는 복합손상을 가진 척수손상환자의 재활치료과정을 소개하여 유사한 사례의 치료에 도움이 되고자 하는 것이다. 증례연구의 대상자인 26세의 남자환자는 흉수 4번 완전손상과 사고 당시 전기화상에 의한 좌측하박 절단과 우측손의 정중신경이 마비되었다. 치료초기에는 일상생활동작 검사에서 MBI (Modified Barthel Index) 점수가 22점으로 독립적으로 가능한 것은 거의 없었고, 기능적으로도 모든 도움이 필요한 상태였으나 재활치료결과 독립적

There are many cases of peripheral nerve injury by patient position during perioperative period. It is thought to occur by compression or traction and ischemia of nerves. We had an experience that injury of common peroneal nerve below fibular head occurred by lithotomy positon during operation for urethral stricture under spinal anesthesia. Because the nerve injury can be reduced by some caution, it is important to be well-informed about and predict the risk of peripheral neuropathy during lithotomy position.

Nerve injury can lead to neuropathic pain, which is often resistant to current analgesics and interventional therapeutic methods. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) plays important role in the induction of neuropathic pain. We explored the antinociceptive effect of curcumin and its effect on ERK in the spinal cord in the neuropathic pain model of rats induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. In injured rats, mechanical allodynia, which is one of characteristics of neuropathic pain developed and the activation of ERK in spinal cord significantly increased compared with control group. However, administration of curcumin (50 mg/kg/day p.o) for 7 days started from one day before the injury prevented the development of mechanical allodynia and increase of ERK phosphorylation. These results indicate that curcumin can be a new therapeutic agent in the treatment of neuropathic pain.