We hypothesize that continuous electrical stimulation (ES) of denervated muscle using implanted electrodes and a pulse generator lessens the effects of denervation and helps to preserve muscle integrity. Ten dogs underwent sciatic nerve severance, common peroneal nerve repair, and implantation of stimulating devices. The proportion of muscle weight preserved was significantly greater in the stimulated muscle than in the untreated denervated muscle (p $<$ 0.01). There was evidence of less atrophy and degeneration in DS seen in both light and electron microscopy. Dependent t test analysis using the normal contralateral muscle groups as the control showed that twitch contraction time was maintained within normal limits by stimulation whereas in the unstimulated group prolongation of twitch time occurred (p $<$ 0.004). The electrical resistance property of the stimulated muscle was also preserved when compared to the normal control (p = 0.7) but did differ between D and N (p $<$ 0.04). Although trends in the data suggested beneficial functional effects of ES, statistical analysis failed to support differences between the stimulated and unstimulated groups in functional testing. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.22374 |
| Date | January 1989 |
| Creators | Gemeinhardt, Christine Eve |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Division of Surgical Research.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001069027, proquestno: MM63552, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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