Experience with allografts in the surgery of peripheral nerves (experimental study)

Peroneal nerve allografts four to seven cm in length were transplanted in 36 tissue typed beagle dogs, using a standard microsurgical technique. The influence of tissue typing on nerve regeneration through these grafts was studied with the help of electromyography and histology seven to nine months after nerve implantation. Better regeneration was found through the grafts with compatible than with noncompatible typing. The favourable effect of tissue compatibility became more evident when the length of the graft was longer than four cm. Tissue rejection reaction was much more marked and evident with longer grafts in noncompatible than in compatible groups. Radiation, with tissue typing, did not seem to confer any additional beneficial effect. Compatible tissue typed nerve allografts probably behave more like autografts.