Nerve Tape Is an Effective Tool for Small Nerve Repair

Microsuture (MS) neurorrhaphy is the standard for repairing small-diameter nerves, but functional recovery is suboptimal due to technical challenges. Nerve Tape (NT), a sutureless nerve repair device, is designed to make nerve coaptation simple and precise. Here, we assess NT on the 1-mm rat sciatic nerve as a model of digital and small sensory nerves.

Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats underwent sciatic nerve transection and repair with either NT (n = 12) or MSs (9-0) (n = 12). Outcome measures included sciatic functional index, muscle morphology, muscle contraction force, and nerve histomorphometry.

At 3 months, NT integrity was maintained for all subjects. The mean muscle girth and mass ratio for the MS group were 80.9% ± 7% and 58.4% ± 5.8% and for the NT group were 80.7% ± 9.2% and 62.4% ± 9.7%, respectively. The mean twitch and tetanic muscle forces following MS repairs were 513.39 ± 102 g and 704.97 ± 103 g versus 561.8 ± 88 g and 676.88 ± 122 g, respectively, following NT repairs. The mean sciatic functional index for MS and NT groups preoperatively, 1 day, and at 3 months were 22 ± 11, -85 ± 69, and -76 ± 52 versus 17 ± 8, -98 ± 82, and -88 ± 50, respectively. Distal axon counts were 23,183 ± 11,579 for the MS group and 25,973 ± 16,155 for the NT group. Average g-ratios were 0.68 for the MS group and 0.62 for the NT group.

NT achieved similar nerve regeneration and functional outcomes as microsuturing.