Peripheral nerve injuries are among the most common causes of sensory deficits, with great interest in surgical rehabilitative strategies to treat these injuries. This animal study assessed a wireless implantable stimulator to map the recovery of nerve and muscle function following a peripheral nerve injury.

Fifteen adult rats were divided into three groups. All groups underwent surgical exposure of the sciatic nerve, with group one undergoing no nerve injury, group two undergoing crush injury of the sciatic nerve and group three undergoing transection of the sciatic nerve with repair. All groups underwent implantation of a wireless nerve stimulator. Each week for 14 weeks, functional recovery was assessed by wireless stimulation of the sciatic nerve, with EMG recording at distal muscles. After the study, the animals were euthanized and distal muscles were harvested.

All implanted devices remained operational throughout the study. The EMG responses in muscles distal to the site of the injury demonstrated progressive recovery of function over six weeks. The change in EMG measured amplitude from week one to week 14 ranged from 6.4% to 69.1% measured in the plantaris of group three to 77.5% to 104.3% measured in the gluteal muscle of group two.

This animal study demonstrated that wireless nerve stimulators at the site of the injured nerve can be used to assess the course of recovery in both crush and transection injuries.