Table 1.

Healthy nerve mean reference values obtained from the three applied functional tests were recorded presurgically to enable both, a bilateral reconstruction surgery but still the comparison of motor recovery with a healthy state

Parameter	Total (n = 16 animals)	Right paw (n = 16 paws)	Left paw (n = 16 paws)
Grasping test
Maximum force applied (g)	223.4 ± 9.5
Staircase test
Maximum number of pellets retrieved	9.1 ± 0.7	10.7 ± 0.8	7.6 ± 0.7***
Maximum number of steps reached	4.6 ± 0.3	4.9 ± 0.3	4.4 ± 0.3**
Noninvasive electrophysiological measurements
Amplitude height (mV)	5.85 ± 0.33	5.70 ± 0.37	6.00 ± 0.49
Amplitude area (ms·mV)	3.82 ± 0.34	3.63 ± 0.42	4.01 ± 0.41
Nerve conduction velocity (m/s)	30.85 ± 2.42	32.17 ± 2.18	29.54 ± 3.64

As right and left paw were evaluated separately, values were defined individually for both paws compared to a total mean value. Wilcoxon matched‐pairs signed rank test was applied to examine significant differences between contralateral paws (**p < .01, ***p < .001 between right and left paw). Values are given as mean ± SEM.