The use of acellular autologous skeletal muscle grafts in peripheral nerve repair: a morphometrical-morphological study.
Alternative materials for autologous nerve grafts in peripheral nerve surgery have long been investigated. This report describes the use of acellular (freeze-thawed) autologous skeletal muscle grafts (ASMG) to bridge a 2 cm gap in the sciatic nerve of rats. Neurophysiologic and morphometric studies performed 6 weeks after surgical procedure showed for the nine treated Sprague-Dawley rats (Group A) a good axon regeneration rate, although this was lower than that for the control group (Group B), a lower Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) and a thinner myelin sheath than in group B (n = 9 Sprague-Dawley rats). In the latter case, complete resection of 2 cm of the sciatic nerve was followed by an immediate coaptation of the proximal and distal ends.
Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Ancona, Italy.
G
G
Di Benedetto
F
F
Lassner
M
M
Riccio
A
A
Pugnaloni
M M
MM
Tappa
G
G
Biagini
A
A
Berger
A
A
Bertani
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000637:transplantation*; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous