Effect of long-term electroacupuncture stimulation on recovery of sensorimotor function after peripheral nerve anastomosis

2018 
Background Recently, application of electroacupuncture (EA) to stimulate nerve regeneration has become a mainstream treatment in clinical rehabilitation and related basic research, but the efficacy of long-term stimulation has not been confirmed. Objective To evaluate the influence of long term EA on peripheral nerve injury (PNI) from multiple angles. Method Twenty-four rats were divided into three groups: control, PNI and PNI+EA. In the latter two groups, PNI was modelled by transection followed by re-anastomosis of thesciatic nerve. In the PNI+EA group only,EA was delivered using a discontinuous wave with frequency 5 Hz, pulse width 2 ms, and intensity approximately 2 mA, until the affected limb was observed to twitch slightly. The treatment was given for 15 min each time, six times a week (continuously for 6 days followed by a 1-day break) for a total of 8 weeks. The effects of EA on anastomotic sciatic nerve regeneration were evaluated using the sciatic function index (SFI), mechanical withdrawal thresholds, thermo-nociceptive thresholds, conduction velocity of the sciatic nerve and bilateral gastrocnemius wet weight. Results From weeks 2 to 4 after modelling, the SFI recovery rate in the PNI+EA group was faster than that in the PNI group. In week 4, the SFI of the PNI+EA group was significantly higher than that of the PNI group (p Conclusion Long term repeated stimulation of the same site with EA does not appear to be conducive to the functional recovery of an injured sciatic nerve in rats.
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