Premium
Comparative study of laser and scalpel nerve transections
Author(s) -
Fligny Isabelle,
Wu Justin S.,
Samonte Bernadette R.,
Fried Marvin P.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.1900120109
Subject(s) - horseradish peroxidase , potassium titanyl phosphate , laser , anatomy , spinal cord , chemistry , surgery , nuclear medicine , biomedical engineering , medicine , optics , biochemistry , physics , psychiatry , enzyme
This investigation was designed to compare standard scalpel transections of the tibial branch of the rat sciatic nerve with those performed using either a milliwatt carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) or a potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP/532) laser. Four transection groups consisted of nerves sectioned with (1) scalpel (control), (2) milliwatt CO 2 laser, (3) KTP/532 with microscope attachment, and (4) KTP/532 laser with 400‐n‐m bare fiber. Each laser was used with the same parameters: 10 watts, 0.4‐mm spot size, and continuous‐wave mode. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was applied to the proximal stump for 30 min, and the animals were sacrificed 24 h later. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)‐labeled motoneuron cell bodies in the lumbar spinal cord were then counted. The average numbers of labeled neurons in each group were as follows: group I (n = 14) 518, group II (n = 8) 424, group III (n = 8) 351, and group IV (n = 8) 283. The standard deviations were quite large, however. When all laser transections were pooled and compared with paired scalpel transections, we found a significant difference, both by the paired t‐test ( P = 0.016) and by the Wilcoxon matched‐paired test ( P = 0.02). We conclude that laser transection significantly diminishes the number of neurons labeled by the retrograde transport of HRP.