Benefits of Ilizarov automated bone distraction for nerves and articular cartilage in experimental leg lengthening

Table 4 Numerical densities of microvessels (N_Amv) in endoneurium

Nerves/group andt-points	Tibial nerve		Peroneal nerve
	mean ± SE (mm-2)	Difference vs intact (%)	mean ± SE (mm-2)	Difference vs intact (%)
Intact	182 ± 22	-	141 ± 8	-
M-group - manual distraction (1 mm/d in 4 steps)
28 d of distraction	180 ± 11	-1.1	192 ± 47a	36.17
30 d of fixation	203 ± 3a	11.54	157 ± 36	11.35
30 d without apparatus	187 ± 10	2.75	197 ± 52a	39.72
A-group - automatic distraction (1 mm/d in 60 steps)
28 d of distraction	135 ± 21a	-25.8c	164 ± 8a	16.31c
30 d of fixation	181 ± 30	-0.5c	171 ± 29a	21.28c
30 d without apparatus	219 ± 22a	20.3c	164 ± 28a	16.31c

^aP < 0.05 vs intact;

^cP < 0.05 vs group M.