The long-term functional recovery of repair of sciatic nerve transection with biogenic conduits
Vincenzo Penna1, Konstantin Wewetzer, Beatrix Munder
1Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany. vincenzo.penna@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Introduction:
The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term regenerative capacity over a 15-mm nerve gap of an autologous nerve conduit, the biogenic conduit (BC), 16 weeks after sciatic nerve transection in the rat.
Methods:
A 19-mm long polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube was implanted parallely to the sciatic nerve. After implantation, a connective tissue cover developed around the PVC-tube, the so-called BC. After removal of the PVC-tube the BCs filled with fibrin (n = 8) were compared to autologous nerve grafts (n = 8). Sciatic functional index (SFI) was evaluated every 4 weeks, histological evaluation was performed at 16 weeks postimplantation. Regenerating axons were visualized by retrograde labelling.
Results:
SFI revealed no significant differences. Nerve area and axon number in the BC group were significantly lower than in the autologous nerve group (P < 0.05; P < 0.01). Analysis of myelin formation showed no significant difference in both groups. Analysis of N-ratio revealed lower values in the BC group (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
This study reveals the suitability of BC for nerve gap bridging over a period of 16 weeks with functional recovery to comparable extent as the autologous nerve graft despite impaired histomorphometric parameters.
