| Popis: |
The hypothesis underlying the work to be presented here is:’…that a large animal (sheep) may successfully be used as a model for peripheral nerve injury, repair and regeneration and that laboratory studies using this model may furnish information useful in predicting clinical outcome’. There are nine chapters. In the first chapter the history of nerve regeneration is briefly discussed. The second chapter is a critique of the use of the sheep as a model for nerve injury and repair and a comparison of this large animal model with small animal models such as the laboratory rat. The conclusion is that the ovine model is a nearer representation of the human case than small animal models. In the third chapter the various clinical and laboratory tests which may be used to evaluate the outcome of nerve injury and repair are discussed. Chapter 4 is a consideration of the case of a mixed (median) nerve and in Chapter 5 a purely motor (facial) nerve is investigated using the tests outlined in Chapter 3. In Chapter 6 there is a discourse upon the use of a technique for estimating the distribution of conduction velocities (CVDist) in the human. In Chapter 7 the special case of obstetrical brachial plexus injury is discussed in the light of the clinical and laboratory tests which may be used to assess it and a similar treatment is given in Chapter 8 to nerve injuries complicated by cavitation, fibrosis, haematoma, long-bone fracture and arterial injury. In the final chapter (9), all of the above are discussed and the value of both the ovine model and the tests described in Chapter 3 are evaluated. It is concluded that the ovine model is an excellent substrate for the evaluation of the pathophysiology of nerve injuries, surgical methods for their repair and of the tests which may be used to assess the outcome of these procedures. |
