[Terminal-lateral nerve anastomoses. Preliminary clinical report of two cases]

Nerve regeneration is based on three phenomenons of critical importance: neurotropism, nerve guidance and neurotrophis. These principles allow understanding the mechanisms of nerve suture and grafting, but also the newly described end-to-side nerve anastomoses. In this procedure, the distal stump of a severed nerve is anastomosed on the lateral side of an intact nerve, with or without removal of the perineurium. Authors report their beginning experience with this procedure (ten cases) and discuss the early results. End-to-side anastomosis seems to be a useful and reliable technique for clinical nerve repair. Even if nerve grafting remains the gold standard to bridge nerve defects, one has nothing to loose if a few minutes, anastomosing the severed nerve on the lateral side of an intact nerve, rather than doing nothing.