THE TREATMENT OF EPINEURAL SCARRING WITH ALLOGRAFT VEIN WRAPPING

Painful scarring around peripheral nerves is a difficult treatment dil emma. Many previously recommended treatment options have resulted in r ecurrence of pain. The authors describe the technique of allograft vei n wrapping with preserved human umbilical vein. To date, 119 vein wrap pings of peripheral nerves have been performed. Good or excellent resu lts were obtained in 79% of the patients. The most common complication has been deep infection (in two patients) and a draining sinus tract (in seven patients). The majority of patients have had significant rel ief from their chronic pain, and the authors have found the results, a t an average follow-up of 25 months, to be very encouraging.