Comparison of the Outcome of End- to- side Neurorrhaphy on Facial Nerve and Nerve Graft of the Great Auricular Nerves: on Experimental Study.

Objective: To evaluate the result of end-to-side neurorrhaphy on facial nerve and the great auricular nerve graft after facial nerve injury. Methods: We selected 20 rabbit( weight of 2.0-2.5kg) to experiment. The upper-cheek branch of facial nerve on right sides was transected and then its distal end sutured to the low-cheek branch nerve with epineurial window in an end-to-side fashion. At the same time, the left side serve as control with end-to-end fashion, Nerve graft of great auricular nerves repair-transplantation on the left facial nerve.conducting speed of motor nerve and histological changes of the two sides were measured after three months. Results: The conducting speed of motor nerve was respectively 23 .56±4 .46m/ s, 22 .86±5.2 m/s(P0.05). A great number of nerve fibers and myelination were found in histological sections.The counts of medullaried nerve fiber were, respectively,64.66±2.48 .63.84±2.78 (P0 .05). Conclusion: Facial nerve could regenerate after end- to- side neurorrhaphy .The effect of end-to-side neurorrhaphy was as same as that of nerve graft.