Elongation of peripheral nerve and viscera containing smooth muscle.
Peripheral nerve, ureter, and small bowel will all elongate over a soft-tissue expander. Elongation of peripheral nerve serves as an effective alternative to nerve grafting both in selected clinical cases and in experimental settings. While canine ureter functions well with little morphologic change following elongation, the rabbit small bowel morphology and function are significantly altered after elongation through expansion.
D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000601:surgery; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000601:surgery*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000601:surgery*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011817:Rabbits; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000379:methods*; D014513:Ureter / Q000601:surgery; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000601:surgery