Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Physiology

Limb immobilization is one of treatments for managing musculoskeletal injury. Although immobilization often benefit the affected part of the body, when prolonged, it often harms the rest of body. Few studies have examined the morphological and functional changes in the nerves of immobilized muscles.34 albino rats weighing from 180 {u2013} 200 gm were included in the study. The rats were classified into two groups, each group included 17 rats.Control group: included rats not exposed to immobilization experimental group: included rats exposed to immobilization After 14 days of immobilization, the rats were killed and the sciatic nerve was dissected and placed in moist nerve chamber then stimulated by power lab stimulator for measuring the conduction velocity and the amplitude of action potential.Immobilized group showed a significant decrease in both the conduction velocity and amplitude of action potential of sciatic nerve in comparison to the control group. In addition, there were a histological findings suggesting degeneration of myelin sheath and neve axons.In conclusion, limb immobilization alters the physiological parameters of sciatic nerve

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