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Effect of low‐power pulsed laser on peripheral nerve regeneration in rats
Author(s) -
Chen YuehSheng,
Hsu ShengFeng,
Chiu ChihWen,
Lin JaungGeng,
Chen ChaoTzung,
Yao ChunHsu
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
microsurgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.031
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1098-2752
pISSN - 0738-1085
DOI - 10.1002/micr.20079
Subject(s) - regeneration (biology) , medicine , irradiation , histology , sciatic nerve , laser , microsurgery , anatomy , peripheral , surgery , biomedical engineering , pathology , biology , optics , physics , nuclear physics , microbiology and biotechnology
The purpose of this study was to determine whether low‐power pulsed laser irradiation could affect the regeneration of a 10‐mm gap of rat sciatic nerve created between the proximal and distal nerve stumps, which were sutured into silicone rubber tubes. After 8 weeks of recovery, pulsed laser‐irradiated groups at frequencies of 5 kHz and 20 kHz both had significantly lower success percentages of regeneration (50% and 44%, respectively) compared to sham‐irradiated controls (100%). In addition, qualitative and quantitative histology of the regenerated nerves revealed a less mature ultrastructural organization with a smaller cross‐sectional area and a lower number of myelinated axons in both pulsed laser‐irradiated groups than in controls. These results suggest that pulsed laser irradiation could elicit suppressing effects on regenerating nerves. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Microsurgery 25:83–89, 2005.