Effect of Severe Crush Injury on Axonal Regeneration: A Functional and Ultrastructural Study

In the present study, we performed sciatic nerve compression for 30, 45, and 60 minutes by the Yasargil aneurysm clip and observed recovery on postoperative days 14, 28, and 42. We observed that as compress time increases, functional recovery and morphological regeneration of crushed sciatic nerve needs longer time. Additionally, we showed which cells are durable in nerve regeneration after crush injury. Nerve regeneration or recovery depends on trauma durations in which a longer recovery time is needed after longtime pressure. Although Schwann cells are found to be resistant and this might be for the cleanup of debris and remyelinization at mild injury, macrophage infiltration is necessary for the cleanup of damaged fragments of cells and fibers. The result indicates that a strong relationship exists between nerve damage and subsequent recovery. This phenomenon may depend on crush severity that is associated with mechanic pressure and inadequate logistic supports such as malnutrition and hypoxia. Additionally, we found that the Yasargil aneurysm clip is an appropriate device to perform a standard experimental severe crush injury model.