Comparison of the Nerve Regeneration Capacity and Characteristics between Sciatic Nerve Crush and Transection Injury Models in Rats.

Objective: To provide useful information for selecting the most appropriate peripheral nerve injury model for different research purposes in nerve injury and repair studies, and to compare nerve regeneration capacity and characteristics between them.

Methods: Sixty adult SD rats were randomly divided into two groups and underwent crush injury alone (group A, = 30) or transection injury followed by surgical repair (group B, = 30) of the right hind paw. Each group was subjected to the CatWalk test, gastrocnemius muscle evaluation, pain threshold measurement, electrophysiological examination, retrograde neuronal labeling, and quantification of nerve regeneration before and 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after injury.