[Nerve anastomoses. Sutures or fibrinogenic glue? Preliminary results]

A comparative animal experiment was set up between two nerve anastomosis techniques, one by sealing nerve ends with a fibrinogen-thrombine glue and the other by classical perineural suturing. It was concluded that glueing nerve ends, from the surgical-technical point of view is a better method than suturing. It is an easy, time-sparing method which allows excellent coaptation of the severed nerves with minimal iatrogenic trauma. On the long run however some questions remain. There is the problem of induced fibrosis by using high doses of aprotinine and factor XIII at the site of the nerve junctions and on the other hand the influence of fibrinolysis in traumatized tissues, with early decrease of tensile strength at the junctions before nerve healing. So glued nerve ends should be completely free of tension, protected against secondary shearing forces, and also immobilization of the region is required.