Article

Peripheral nerve injury afflicts individuals from all walks of life. Despite the
peripheral nervous system's intrinsic ability to regenerate, many patients
experience incomplete functional recovery. Surgical repair aims to expedite this
recovery process in the most thorough manner possible. However, full recovery is
still rarely seen especially when nerve injury is compounded with polytrauma
where surgical repair is delayed. Pharmaceutical strategies supplementary to
nerve microsurgery have been investigated but surgery remains the only viable
option. Brief low-frequency electrical stimulation of the proximal nerve stump
after primary repair has been widely investigated. This article aims to review
the currently known biological basis for the regenerative effects of acute brief
low-frequency electrical stimulation on axonal regeneration and outline the
recent clinical applications of the electrical stimulation protocol to
demonstrate the significant translational potential of this modality for
repairing peripheral nerve injuries. The review concludes with a discussion of
emerging new advancements in this exciting area of research. The current
literature indicates the imminent clinical applicability of acute brief
low-frequency electrical stimulation after surgical repair to effectively promote
axonal regeneration as the stimulation has yielded promising evidence to maximize
functional recovery in diverse types of peripheral nerve injuries.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS