Key points from article :
Electrical stimulation a week before surgery causes nerves to regenerate 3 to 5 times faster.
"We use the term 'time is muscle'" - Christine Webber, U of Alberta.
Muscles atrophy before the nerve has a chance to grow and reconnect duet to slow nature of regeneration.
That's where conditioning electrical stimulation (CES) comes in.
Animal models with foot drop, a common nerve injury were examined.
A distal nerve transfer was done in which a nerve near the damaged one was electrically stimulated.
Then a week later a branch of the nerve was cut & placed near the target of the non-functioning nerve.
Newly transferred nerve was primed & ready to regrow, at a much faster rate, into the muscle.
CES can be a tool for faster nerve regrowth in any portion of the peripheral nervous system.
Researchers plan to conduct clinical trials within the next year or two.
Research by University of Alberta published in Annals of Neurology.
