Figure 1. Experimental groups.

Representative pictures of injury zones (arrows) are shown for each of the femoral and sciatic nerve experimental groups, proximal ends to the left. SHAM – nerve exposure and suture marking only; CRUSH – simple 30-second jeweler’s forceps crush; MN – single 3-second compression using sub-transection force; MN+50g – single MN compression combined with 50g traction force; (MN+50g)x2 – two MN+50g injuries made in tandem; TRANSECTION – sharp transection without repair; TRANSECTION+REPAIR – intra-tubular repair of the transected femoral nerves; NEGATIVE CONTROL – transection, capping and back-reflection of sciatic nerve ends as negative control.