Innervation of the rat anterior abdominal wall as shown by modified Sihler's stain.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to use the modified Sihler's staining technique to demonstrate detailed distribution of the rat anterior abdominal wall nerves and test the value of Sihler's technique in demonstrating such a complex muscle-nerve relationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS The anterior abdominal walls of 5 Wistar rats were isolated by making a deep incision from the costal arches on each side down to the inguinal region and processed using a modified Sihler's stain technique. RESULTS This technique was successfully applied to visualize the innervation of the anterior abdominal wall muscles of the rat. The segmental nerves of T6-L1 and their terminal branches were shown and possible motor and sensory fibers identified. CONCLUSIONS This technique is valuable in understanding the complex nature of final branching of the nerve endings, and it may be useful for studying experimental nerve models.