Promoting nerve regeneration through long gaps by using small piece graft of nerve tissue

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

According to the concept of neurotropism a small piece of nerve tissue was grafted into a silicone tube placed to bridge a relatively long nerve gap in an attempt to attain nerve regeneration. A 15-mm gap was created in the left sciatic nerve of 33 Wistar rats (8 weeks of age). The experimental groups included one with nonvascularized nerve tissue grafted into a silicone tube with no distal nerve suturing (NV-A), another with vascularized nerve tissue grafted into a silicone tube with no distal nerve suturing (V-A), a third group with nonvascularized nerve tissue grafted into a silicone tube with distal nerve suturing (NV-P), a fourth group with vascularized nerve tissue grafted into a silicone tube with distal nerve suturing (V-P), and a group with no nerve segment grafted into the silicone tube (control). Electrophysiologic and histologic examinations were performed 10 weeks after the operation. No regeneration was obtained in the control group. Nerve regeneration was evident on the proximal defective site of the tube in the NV-A, V-A, NV-P and V-P groups, and on the distal side in the NV-P and V-P groups. The degree of distal regeneration was extremely slight in the NV-A and V-A groups. An electrophysiologic examination performed in the NV-P and V-P groups revealed better results in the latter group. These findings indicated that small nerve piece grafts were capable of inducing nerve regeneration even with a long nerve gap, by grafting nerve tissue in the middle of the lesion using a silicone tube.