The purpose of the study is to understand the composition of the nerves supplying the facet joints in low back.
After written informed consent, the nerves supplying the facet joints - lumbar dorsal rami and its medial branches, will be harvested when they are exposed during spinal surgery. These nerves will be fixed, washed and further dissected to enable smaller sections. The cut section will be stained and subjected to analysis of overall cross-sectional area and presence of connective tissue sheaths under light microscope.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
20
In participants who undergo elective lumbar spinal surgery and consented for research, the medial branch and dorsal rami will be harvested for histological analysis.
The harvested nerves will be fixed, cut into smaller sections. Analysis of macroscopic and light microscopic sections will be carried out
Woodend Hospital
Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom
RECRUITINGNerve Histology
Percentage of nerves containing more than 50% sensory fibres in lumbar dorsal rami/medial branches to assess whether they are sensory or motor nerves
Time frame: one year
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