• Johan W van Neck, B Stefan de Kool, J Ineke M Hekking-Weijma, Erik T Walbeehm, Gerhard H Visser, and Joleen H Blok.
• Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Room Ee15.91, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, Rotterdam 3000, The Netherlands. j.vanneck@erasmusmc.nl
• Muscle Nerve. 2009 Dec 1;40(6):967-75.

AbstractUltrasound-guided near-nerve neurography is a new tool that can be used to assess nerve regeneration before reinnervation occurs. In this study, ultrasound-guided near-nerve measurements were validated against axon diameter counts in rabbits during a 15-week regeneration period after a crush lesion of their peroneal nerve. The course of the nerve was determined ultrasonically, and the active near-nerve needle electrode was maneuvered just next to the nerve under ultrasound guidance. Measured action potentials were compared with axon diameter counts from histological sections of these same nerves. A moderate to good positive correlation was found, which reached a maximum of 0.7 at a cut-off of 3 microm, corresponding to the minimal size of the myelinated axons. Our results suggest that, following a similar validation study in humans, ultrasound-guided near-nerve neurography may be clinically useful when early evaluation of nerve activity is needed.

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