www.nrronline.orgAhmetPiskin,Associateprofessor.Correspondingauthor:AtillaÇıtlak,M.D.,Assistantprofessor,DepartmentofOrthopedicsandTraumatology,SchoolofMedicine,GiresunUniversity,Giresun,Turkey,atillacitlak@yahoo.com.Received:2013-10-18Accepted:2013-11-23(nrr-27-13)Acknowledgments:WewouldliketoacknowledgeProfessorPürçekG,DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering,KaradenizTechnicalUniversity,Turkeyfortechnicalhelp.Authorcontributions:Allauthorsparticipatedinstudyconceptionanddesign,datacollection,analysisandinterpretationandstatisticalanalysis.PiskinAwrotethemanuscript.Allauthorsapprovedthefinalversionofthepaper.Conflictsofinterest:Nonedeclared.NEURALREGENERATIONRESEARCHVolume8,Issue36,December2013doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.36.006[http://www.nrronline.org;http://www.sjzsyj.org]PiskinA,AltunkaynakBZ,ÇıtlakA,SezginH,YazıcıO,KaplanS.Immediateversusdelayedprimarynerverepairintherabbitsciaticnerve.NeuralRegenRes.2013;8(36):3410-3415.ImmediateversusdelayedprimarynerverepairintherabbitsciaticnerveAhmetPiskin1,BerrinZühalAltunkaynak2,AtillaÇıtlak3,HicabiSezgin1,OzgürYazıcı1,SüleymanKaplan21DepartmentofOrthopedicsandTraumatology,SchoolofMedicine,OndokuzMayısUniversity,Samsun,Turkey2DepartmentofHistologyandEmbryology,SchoolofMedicine,OndokuzMayısUniversity,Samsun,Turkey3DepartmentofOrthopedicsandTraumatology,SchoolofMedicine,GiresunUniversity,Giresun,TurkeyGraphicalAbstractAbstractItiswellknownthatperipheralnerveinjuryshouldbetreatedimmediatelyintheclinic,butinsomeinstances,repaircanbedelayed.Thisstudyinvestigatedtheeffectsofimmediateversusdelayed(3daysafterinjury)neurorrhaphyonrepairoftransectedsciaticnerveinNewZealandrabbitsusingstereological,histomorphologicalandbiomechanicalmethods.At8weeksafterim-mediateanddelayedneurorrhaphy,axonnumberandareainthesciaticnerve,myelinsheathandepineuriumthickness,Schwanncellmorphology,andthemechanicalpropertyofnervefibersdidnotdifferobviously.Theseresultsindicatethatdelayedneurorrhaphydonotproduceany3410StereologicalevaluationNumberandareaofaxonsThicknessofepineuriumAreaofsciaticnerveHistomorphologicalobservationBiomechanicaltestingImmediateanddelayedprimarynerverepairintherabbitsciaticnervePiskinA,etal./NeuralRegenerationResearch.2013;8(36):3410-3415.deleteriouseffectonsciaticnerverepair.KeyWordsneuralregeneration;delayedperipheralnerverepair;sciaticnerve;peripheralnerveinjury;stereology;microscopy;biomechanics;neuroregenerationINTRODUCTIONPeripheralnerveinjuriesaffectallagegroupsandcanhaveadevastatingimpactonpatient’sjobanddailyac-tivities[1].Peripheralnerveinjuriesfrequentlyoccurasaresultofaccidentaltrauma,deliberatesurgery,oracutecompression[2].Theseinjuriesareoftentheresultoftraumaticevents,suchasanopenfractureorwound,buttheycanalsopresentlatentlyafteraperipheralnerveblockorwhileobservingacompartmentsyn-drome.Generally,peripheralnerveinjuriesshouldbetreatedimmediatelyintheclinic,butinsomeinstances,repaircanbedelayed[1].Thecutandrepairednerveendsaresubjectedtovariousmechanicalforcesthatmustberecognizedandmanagedappropriatelytopreservebloodflowandallownerveheal-ing.Despitemultipletreatmentoptionsareavailable(im-mediateordelayedrepair,nervegrafting,nervetransfer,nervetransplant,nerveconduits),biomechanicalrequire-mentsarethesameforanytypeofrepair[3].Anunderstandingofsubsequentcellularchangesafternerveinjuryisessentialfordeter...