Effects of targeted muscle reinnervation on spinal cord motor neurons in rats following tibial nerve transection

Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is a surgical procedure used to transfer residual peripheral nerves from amputated limbs to targeted muscles, which allows the target muscles to become sources of motor control information for function reconstruction. In this study, the researchers explored the effect of hind limb TMR surgery on injured motor neurons in the spinal cord of rats after tibial nerve transection. The findings suggest that TMR may enable the reconnection of residual nerve fibers to target muscles, thus restoring hind limb motor function on the injured side.

• 1
  TMR improved the reduction in hind limb motor function and atrophy in mice caused by tibial nerve transection.
• 2
  TMR enhanced nerve regeneration by increasing the number of axons and myelin sheath thickness in the tibial nerve.
• 3
  TMR increased the number of anterior horn motor neurons, and increasing the number of choline acetyltransferase-positive cells and immunofluorescence intensity of synaptophysin in rat spinal cord.