The authors surgically caused crush-injury to unilateral sciatic nerve and subjected them to forced swimming exercise either after 24hrs of injury or after 14 days of injury. They sacrificed animal after 30 days and studied the single fibre thickness and myelin sheath thickness from the distal segment of the affected nerve. They also assessed the gait using measurements from paw imprints. They tried to conclude that early swimming intervention improved recovery from crush nerve injuries. Moreover the flaws in the study provoked healthy discussions among the audience.
References:
Swimming Exercise in the Acute or Late Phase after Sciatic NerveCrush Accelerates Nerve Regeneration by RosanaMacher Teodori, Joice Betini, Larissa Salgado de Oliveira, Luciane Lobato Sobral,Sibele YokoMattozo Takeda, andMaria Imaculada de LimaMontebelo; Neural Plasticity, Volume 2011, Article ID 783901, doi:10.1155/2011/783901