Laser-activated solder weld repair of the inferior alveolar nerve in rats

A new laser activated solder weld technique is described for the microsurgical repair of the inferior alveolar nerve in rats. The laser weld technique used an albumin based solder, containing indocyanine cardiogreen, plus an infrared diode laser. Seven animals had inferior alveolar nerve repairs performed using the laser weld technique and these were compared against corresponding unoperated controls plus three cases of nerve section without repair. Histochemical analysis was performed utilizing neuron counts and horseradish peroxidase tracer (HRP) uptake in the trigeminal ganglion following sacrifice and staining of frozen sections with cresyl violet and diaminobenzidene. The results of this analysis showed comparable mean neuron counts and mean HRP uptake by neurons for the unoperated control and laser weld groups with considerable reduction of mean values in cases of nerve section with no repair. Sections of the repaired inferior alveolar nerves, stained with Masson's trichrome, showed no adverse reactions by axons or epineurium to the coagulative repair with the solder and demonstrated regeneration of myelinated axons at the time of sacrifice. In summary a new technique of laser weld repair of the inferior alveolar nerve is described which, on initial analysis, appears to be a reliable alternative to traditional techniques.