Abstract
This study was aimed at evaluating the value of multimodality ultrasound techniques
in the detection of crushed sciatic nerve and denervated muscle in rabbits. Fifty
healthy male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into five groups (n = 10
in each group): four crushed injury groups at 1, 2, 4 and 8 wk post-sciatic nerve
crushed injury, and a control group without crush injury. The crushed sciatic nerve
and denervated muscle were measured with conventional ultrasound, shear wave elastography
and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, and the results were compared with the histopathological
parameters. The inter- and intra-reader reliability of multimodality ultrasound was
assessed with intra-class correlation coefficients. Our results revealed that the
sciatic nerve thickened at 2 wk post-crushed injury (p < 0.01), but recovered to almost normal thickness at 8 wk post-injury. Stiffness
of the crushed nerve gradually increased (p < 0.01), and intraneural blood volume decreased (area under the curve, peak intensity,
time to peak, p < 0.01 each) over time. Histopathological evaluation revealed obvious collagen hyperplasia
and poor regenerated microvascular and sparse axonal regeneration and remyelination.
Compared with that of the control group, the elastic modulus of the denervated muscle
significantly increased (p < 0.05), which may be related to the increased intramuscular collagen (p < 0.01) and decreased muscle fiber cross-sectional area (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in contrast-enhanced ultrasonography
parameters (area under the curve, peak intensity, time to peak) of the denervated
muscle between the crush injury groups and the control group (p >0.05). All ultrasound results had excellent inter- and intra-reader consistency
(intraclass correlation coefficient >0.80). In conclusion, multimodality ultrasound
techniques could provide quantitative information on the morphologic changes, mechanical
properties and blood perfusion of crushed nerve and denervated muscle, which may be
of great importance in clinical practice.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 04, 2019
Accepted:
October 4,
2019
Received in revised form:
October 3,
2019
Received:
May 14,
2019
Identification
Copyright
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