BACKGROUND: Massage vibration therapy has definite effects on peripheral nerve injury. However, less is reported on its mechanism of action. OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of massage vibration on peripheral nerve regeneration after injury. METHODS: Twenty-eight SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (n=8) and model group (n=20). Animal models of sciatic nerve injury were established in the model group by sciatic nerve clamping. Four rats in the model group were then randomly selected for model identification, and the remaining rats in the model group were randomly divided into sham intervention group (n=8) and massage vibration method group (n=8). In the sham operation group the skin was opened and sutured with no injury. The rats were intervened on the 7th day after modeling. In the massage vibration group, massage vibration was given using a vibrator by touching the skin of the right lower extremity at a frequency of 8 Hz, once a day, 2 min per time, for 4 consecutive weeks. In the sham intervention group, the vibrator only touched the skin but with no massage treatment. No treatment was given in the sham operation group. Incline plane test and behavioral indexes of sciatic function index were performed and measured after 7, 14, and 28 days of treatment, and muscle satellite cells, insulin-like growth factor 1, and MyoD biochemical index were detected after 28 days of treatment. The study protocol was approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In the inclined plane test, the inclination angle of the sham intervention group and the massage vibration group was significantly smaller than that in the sham operation group after 7, 14, and 28 days of treatment (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the sham intervention group and the massage vibration group (P > 0.05). The sciatic function index value in the massage vibration group was significantly better than that in the sham intervention group after 14 and 28 days of treatment. The positive expression of muscle satellite cells, insulin-like growth factor 1, and MyoD in the massage vibration group was highest after 28 days of treatment, followed by the sham intervention group and sham operation group (P < 0.05). To conclude, massage vibration method can effectively promote the recovery of motor function, accelerate the expression of insulin-like growth factor 1 and MyoD, expedite the proliferation and differentiation of muscle satellite cells, alleviate skeletal muscle atrophy, and accelerate sciatic nerve regeneration after injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]