Effects of physical exercise on the functional recovery of rat hindlimbs with impairments of the sciatic nerve as assessed by 2D video analysis

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of treadmill training on functional recovery by analyzing the ankle joint as well as the knee and hip joints with 2D video analysis during gait by rats with sciatic nerve injury. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. The sham group (SG) received only a sham operation without any sciatic injury; the training group (TG) performed treadmill training for 4 weeks after sciatic injury; and the control group (CG) wasn’t provided with any therapeutic intervention after sciatic injury. [Results] The ankle, knee, and hip ROM of TG and CG during the initial, mid stance, and toe-off phases of gait at post-test were significantly different from SG. [Conclusion] Physical exercise, like treadmill training, is beneficial for the improvement of the ankle, knee and hip joints of rats with crushed sciatic nerve injury.