Tubulation repair of peripheral nerves in the rat using an inside-out intestine sleeve.
This study compared the regeneration of peripheral nerves in the Sprague-Dawley rat through a nerve guide prepared from rat small intestine to nerve regeneration using a standard autogenous nerve-graft repair strategy. In one experimental group (n = 15), inside-out rat intestine sleeves were used as nerve guides to bridge a 10-mm defect created in the right sciatic nerve. These nerve guides were prepared by harvesting 14-mm segments of small intestine from Sprague-Dawley rats not otherwise used in the study. The segments were turned inside-out to expose the serosa as the lumen of the guide, and transected nerve stumps were secured 2 mm into the guide on each end with an epineural-to-guide stitch. The control group (n = 15) had an identical gap repaired with a standard autologous nerve graft. Five animals from each group were sacrificed at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. The extent of axonal regeneration was assessed by axon-counting, retrograde tracer analysis, electromyography, and qualitative histologic assessment. The inside-out intestine sleeve group exhibited faster conduction velocities and greater axon counts when compared to the autologous nerve-graft controls. These novel nerve guides proved simple to manufacture and were completely absorbed by 12 weeks.
Wang
K K
KK
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Research Laboratory and Microsurgery Center, Lahey Clinic Medical Center, Burlington, Massachusetts 01805, USA.
Cetrulo
C L
CL
Seckel
B R
BR
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004576:Electromyography; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000294:innervation* / Q000601:surgery; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012016:Reference Values; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous