Şahin KARALAR, Serkan BAYRAM, Taha Furkan YAĞCI, Turgut AKGÜL
Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica - 2026;60(3):1-6
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of different compression magnitudes and durations on peripheral nerve conduction and the time required for recovery in a porcine model. Methods: Six adult male farm pigs (Sus scrofa) were allocated to 3 experimental groups. Transcutaneous motor-evoked potential (TcMEP) responses were recorded using surface electrodes. To assess the impact of compression on nerve conduction, compression was applied to the sciatic nerve to reduce the TcMEP by 50%, 70%, and 90% in the first, second, and third groups, respectively. Each compression was applied for durations of 1, 5, and 8 minutes, with TcMEP measurements taken at 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes post-compression. Results: In the first group, after 1 minute of compression, the average recovery time for TcMEP values to return to baseline was 118 +/- 25 seconds (range, 60-130 seconds). Following 5 minutes of compression, recovery occurred after an average of 28 +/- 8 minutes (range, 20-38 minutes). However, after 8 minutes of compression, TcMEP values did not return to baseline. In the second group, the recovery time after 1 minute of compression was significantly longer compared to the group with 50% TcMEP reduction (P < .001). After 5 minutes of compression, TcMEP values failed to return to baseline. In the third group, where TcMEP reduction exceeded 90%, no recovery to baseline was observed regardless of compression duration, suggesting irreversible nerve damage. Conclusion: The findings suggest that prolonged compression times result in more significant reductions in TcMEP values, indicating irreversible nerve conduction damage. Further studies are warranted to investigate the clinical implications of these findings, particularly regarding the thresholds for permanent nerve damage.
