The dynamics of tibial nerve changes in the process of canine leg lengthening using an autodistractor

The dynamics of the changes of tibial nerve quantitative indices has been studied at the stages of leg lengthening in 14 adult mongrel dogs using automatic distractors of high division. Decrease of the total area of the nerve cross-section and the general area of nerve fiber bundles is noted at the end of distraction at the distal level of the leg middle 1/3 comparing with the control (contralateral) nerve. The nerve becomes uniformly thinner by the end of fixation, the area of its cross-section is restored in 30 days after the autodistractor removal in two animals and in the other two it becomes to be reliably more than the control values. There are no morphological signs of traction injury. The changes which occur in the correlation of the nerve intra-bundle structural components lead to the increase of the volume density of the nerve myelin fibers in comparison with the contralateral nerve, being an indicator of the recovery of the nerve morphologic structure and function.