Custom prefabrication of silicone tubes from urinary catheters for experimental peripheral nerve surgery

The entubulation principle represents a neurobiological approach to nerve surgery in which the role of the surgeon is limited and intrinsic healing capabilities of the nerve play the primary role. Herein, a technique for fabricating custom-made silicone tubes from a silicone urinary catheter is described. Silicone tubes with varying size and dimensions can be tailored depending on the diameter of the silicone urinary catheter (14 F to 18 F). Tubes crafted from silicone urinary catheters were used either as a nerve conduit to facilitate regeneration or as compressive nerve banding to simulate compressive neuropathy in the rat sciatic nerve. Custom-made silicone tubes have similar pros and cons to the commercially available silicone tubes regarding the capsule and foreign body reaction. It can be concluded that these cost effective tubes can be easily cut and used in experimental peripheral nerve surgery in developing countries where the cost of such materials becomes an important issue for the researchers.