Motor end plate

The neuromuscular junction at which a motor axon terminal meets the muscle fibre. After denervation the end plate can maintain its integrity for up to about a year, but progressive muscle fibrosis makes functional reinnervation unlikely beyond 12–18 months — the window that drives early repair and nerve transfer.

Related terms

• Procedure

  Nerve transfer

  Coaptation of an expendable donor nerve or fascicle to the distal stump of an injured nerve close to its target, converting a proximal injury into a distal one with a single tension-free repair and no graft. Used for brachial plexus and high nerve injuries and for delayed presentations within the motor reinnervation window; the Oberlin and anterior interosseous-to-ulnar transfers are the classic examples.

• Investigation

  Fibrillation potentials

  Spontaneous electrical discharges of individual denervated muscle fibres recorded on needle electromyography. They appear one to four weeks after an axonal nerve injury, later for proximal lesions, and their amplitude declines over the following year, which helps date an injury of uncertain age.

Articles mentioning this term

1. FESSH preparation · 26 September 2026

   Peripheral nerve injury and repair

   Peripheral nerve injury for FESSH candidates: degeneration, Seddon and Sunderland grades, electrodiagnosis, timing, grafts, conduits and nerve transfers.

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