R. Kakinoki et al., NERVE REGENERATION OVER A 25 MM GAP IN RAT SCIATIC-NERVES USING TUBESCONTAINING BLOOD-VESSELS - THE POSSIBILITY OF CLINICAL-APPLICATION, International orthopaedics, 21(5), 1997, pp. 332-336
This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of including vesse
ls in a tube used to promote nerve regeneration across a gap. A tube c
ontaining sural vessels was designed in a mt model and interposed betw
een the proximal and distal stumps of a divided sciatic nerve, leaving
a 25 mm gap. At 12 weeks, a few myelinated axons were seen at the mos
t distal parts of regenerated nerves in 6 out of 10 rats, none of whic
h evoked action potentials in the tibialis anterior muscle, bit by 24
weeks all the rats had developed neural tissue in the tubes, which evo
ked action potentials in the muscle. The vessels within the tube enhan
ced nerve regeneration and its distance up 25 mm. This type of vessel-
containing tube would be useful for the repair of divided human periph
eral nerves with long gaps, almost equivalent to or slightly longer th
an the maximum length over which nerve fibres can regenerate through a
unvascularised unmodified tube.