Comparative study of intercostal nerve transfer to lower trunk and contralateral C7 root transfer in repair of total brachial plexus injury in rats

SummaryAimThe aim of this study is to compare the treatment outcome of nerve transfer using intercostal nerves (ICNs) or contralateral C7 (cC7) root in rats.MethodsNinety adult Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups of 30 each: group A (cC7 root transfer), group B (ICNs transfer), and group C (control). Electrophysiological examination, muscle tension test, neuromorphology, and muscle fiber cross-sectional area measurements obtained from the three groups were compared to evaluate neurotization outcome 4, 8, and 12 weeks postoperatively.ResultsMedian nerve regeneration and the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) muscle functional recovery of group B were worse than group A from comparison of both groups' parameters.ConclusionsNeurotization of ICNs to the lower trunk is difficult to replace cC7 root transfer to the median nerve for restoration of hand function in total brachial plexus injury (BPI). Therefore, at present, the more important implication of the comparative study is that traditional cC7 root transfer remains the mainstay strategy to repair forearm flexor muscle function.