Spontaneous regeneration of the seriously injured sympathetic pathway projecting to the prostate over a long period in the dog.

Abstract

To explore the spontaneous regeneration, over a long period, of the seriously injured sympathetic pathway controlling the prostate. The hypogastric nerve (HGN), which is part of the sympathetic pathway from the spinal cord to the prostate, was partly removed over half of its length on both sides in six dogs. Four years after surgery the responses of the prostate to electrical stimulation of the lumbar splanchnic nerve (LSN) or the HGN proximal to the site removed, were assessed. In six dogs, 10 of the 17 LSNs (second to fourth) and four of the 10 HGNs stimulated elicited prostatic contraction. The pathways via the ipsilateral HGN and/or the contralateral HGN from the LSNs to the prostate were identified as having regenerated in four of six dogs. These results indicate that the sympathetic pathways via the HGN to the canine prostate can regenerate spontaneously over a long period after serious injury, and that their cross-innervation system can also be repaired.