Comparison between two medical drugs' effect on the crushed sciatic nerve healing in dogs

Abstract

This article was conducted to evaluate the role of therankeron and methylprednisolone on the healing and regeneration process of the damaged sciatic nerve by crushing in dogs. Eighteen adult dogs were used. The animals were divided into three equal groups. The sciatic nerve of the left hind limb in all experimental animals was damaged by crushing forceps for two minutes. In group one, the damaged nerve was left without any medical therapy, while in groups two and three, methylprednisolone and therankeron were used to treat the crushed sciatic nerve, respectively. The Clinical signs and histopathological changes depended on the 30th and 60th postoperative days to evaluate the degree of nerve repair. In group one, all animals did not use their affected limb with loss of sensation completely, while early and pronounced enhancement in the hind limb function was shown, especially in group three than in group two. In group one, the histopathological changes were characterized by the presence of areas of nerve fiber necrosis and disconnection of it, inflammatory cell infiltration with blood vessel congestion, and edema formation between the nerve fibers in both following periods. The same changes were shown in groups two and three, in addition to the presence of nerve fibers' regeneration, especially in group three, superior to group two. In conclusion, the results of this article revealed positive clinical and histopathological effects of both theranekron and methylprednisolone on the healing and regeneration of the crushed sciatic nerve, with priority for therankeron in dogs.

Keywords

• nerve injury
• nerve regeneration
• methylprednisolone
• therankeron