Effects of electrical stimulation and testosterone on functional recovery following a recurrent laryngeal nerve crush injury

Peripheral nerve damage can lead to serious sensory and/or motor dysfunction. The timeframe for recovery from peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is often prolonged as well as unpredictable. Patients suffering PNI are regularly left permanently disfigured due to their injury. Using an animal model of PNI, crush of the rat recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), the effects of treatments on functional recovery can be studied with the eventual goal of human translation. The combination treatment consisting of electrical stimulation and supraphysiological testosterone has been shown to have beneficial effects on functional recovery following both extratemporal and intratemporal facial nerve crush injuries; however, it is unclear if this combination treatment is effective in improving recovery from other peripheral nerve injuries. Previously, recovery from RLN crush injury in rats has been shown to take 6 weeks post‐injury. Using male Sprague‐Dawley rats, we have found that the combination of electrical stimulation and supraphysiological testosterone, accelerates the onset of recovery following a RLN crush injury with treated animals recovering up to 4 weeks faster than controls. Grant Funding Source : Loyola University Research Funding Committee