Mechanical, topographical and chemical cues combined with physical therapy for peripheral nerve injuries.
Aim: The aim of this paper is to evaluate biomaterial cues combined with physical therapy (PT) on functional recovery in a rat sciatic nerve injury model. Materials & methods: Nerve growth conduits were filled with longitudinally aligned hyaluronic acid fibers and microspheres containing neurotrophic factor (growth factor [GF]). All animals received behavior and functional testing throughout the study, which concluded with measurement of compound muscle action potentials and contractile force of the gastrocnemius muscle. Results & conclusion: Including GF improved recovery of gross motor function and increased sensory pain sensation. During the 4 weeks that animals participated in PT, these groups showed higher static sciatic index scores. Including GF and PT has the potential to improve clinical outcomes following peripheral nerve injury.
['Whitehead|Tonya J|TJ|0000-0003-2750-0913', 'Mays|Elizabeth A|EA|', 'Prasad|Monica|M|', 'Mora|Anthony|A|', 'Chen|Chaoyang|C|', 'Mazhari|Assadollah|A|', 'Peduzzi|Jean|J|', 'Sundararaghavan|Harini G|HG|0000-0003-0205-6449']
D000818:Animals D003463:Cues D009416:Nerve Regeneration D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities D051381:Rats D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley D012584:Sciatic Nerve
physical therapy nerve growth conduit hyaluronic acid microspheres CMAP nanofibers nerve regeneration