新美　陽介
   Department   School of Medicine(Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital), School of Medicine
   Position   Associate Professor
Article types Original article
Language English
Peer review Peer reviewed
Title Surgical anatomy of the ovine sural nerve for facial nerve regeneration and reconstruction research.
Journal Formal name：Scientific reports
Abbreviation：Sci Rep
ISSN code：(2045-2322)2045-2322(Linking)
Domestic / ForeginForegin
Volume, Issue, Page 9(1),pp.10564
Author and coauthor Niimi Yosuke†, Fukuda Satoshi, Gilbert Ryan S, Baljinnyam Tuvshintugs, Niimi Yu, Matsumine Hajime, Liu Keibun, Jacob Sam, Hawkins Hal K, Cox Robert A, Herndon David N, Prough Donald S, Enkhbaatar Perenlei*
Authorship Lead author
Publication date 2019/07
Summary The lack of a clinically relevant animal models for research in facial nerve reconstruction is challenging. In this study, we investigated the surgical anatomy of the ovine sural nerve as a potential candidate for facial nerve reconstruction, and performed its histological quantitative analysis in comparison to the buccal branch (BB) of the facial nerve using cadaver and anesthetized sheep. The ovine sural nerve descended to the lower leg along the short saphenous vein. The length of the sural nerve was 14.3 ± 0.5 cm. The distance from the posterior edge of the lateral malleolus to the sural nerve was 7.8 ± 1.8 mm. The mean number of myelinated fibers in the sural nerve was significantly lower than that of the BB (2,311 ± 381vs. 5,022 ± 433, respectively. p = 0.003). The number of fascicles in the sural nerve was also significantly lower than in the BB (10.5 ± 1.7 vs. 21.3 ± 2.7, respectively. p = 0.007). The sural nerve was grafted to the BB with end-to-end neurorrhaphy under surgical microscopy in cadaver sheep. The surgical anatomy and the number of fascicles of the ovine sural nerve were similar of those reported in humans. The results suggest that the sural nerve can be successfully used for facial nerve reconstruction research in a clinically relevant ovine model.
DOI 10.1038/s41598-019-46661-3
PMID 31332199