A Morphologic Study on the Regeneration of Sciatic Nerve Replaced with Autogenous Skeletal Muscle in Rat / 대한정형외과연구학회지

PURPOSE: To investigate the morphological features of nerve regeneration in the rat sciatic nerve defect filled with autogenous skeletal muscle. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used thirty Sprague-Dawley rats with weight of 300g. Nerve segment of 1 cm was resected from the right sciatic nerve in the study group. After filling the defect with autogenous skeletal muscle, we sutured epineurium of the resected sicatic nerve. At twelve months after surgery, examination with light and transmission electron microscopies were performed on the specimens and left normal sciatic nerves. RESUTLS: Many regenerating nerve fibers were detected along the muscle graft. The number of myelinated nerve fibers was significantly greater in regenerated nerves than in normal nerves, but the size of myelinated nerve fibers was smaller in regenerated nerves. Ultrastructural observations showed nerve fibers and Schwann cells between muscle fibers. CONCLUSION: The light and transmission electron microscopy showed that a good morphological pattern of nerve regeneration in gap filled with skeletal muscle.

Crush-Cleavage Fracture in Thoracolumbar and Lumbar Spine: Comparative Study with Type B Burst Fracture / 대한정형외과학회잡지

We noticed a group of thoracolumbar and lumbar spine fractures showing a unique fracture pattern that consisted of 1) superior disc injury, 2) crush fracture of the upper half of the vertebral body, 3) sagittal fracture of the lower half of the vertebral body, 4) bone fragments in the spinal canal, and 5) lamina fracture. Some of these fracture patterns were present in type B burst fracture of Denis classification. The purpose of this study was to compare the difference between crush-cleavage fracture and type B burst fracture in the viewpoint of neural canal involvement and neurologic status, and functional outcome with surgical treatment. Ten cases were identified as crush-cleavage fractures in 22 type B burst fractures during a 5 year period from Mar. 1989 to Jun. 1993 at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery of Chonbuk National University Hospital. Four out of 10 crush-cleavage fractures and 4 out of 12 type B burst fractures were paraparetic. Crush-cleavage fracture must be an unstable thoracolumbar comminuted fracture, but there were no significant differences in the neural canal involvement, incidence of neurologic deficit, and in the functional outcome, compared with type B burst fracture (P>0.05). It could be classified as a progressed form of type B burst fracture in Denis classification, or as a burst-split fracture in Magerl classification in the anatomical viewpoint. In conclusion, crush-cleavage fracture must be a variant of burst fracture.