A quantitative evaluation of suture and tubulization nerve repair techniques

The radial and sural nerves in cats were transected and either left unrepaired, repaired with 11-0 epineurial sutures, sutured and treated with topical application of Kenalog, or tubulated with hypoantigenic collagen. One year later the nerves were examined electrophysiologically, using single unit recording techniques, and histologically, by light microscopy. The results indicate that regeneration through the neuroma was comparable in all four groups, but that reinnervation of sensory structures in the skin was most successful in the tubulated nerves.