Bridging short nerve defects by direct repair under tension, nerve grafts or longitudinal sutures.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the longitudinal suture model for bridging nerve defects with direct approximation under tension or with autologuos nerve grafting.


METHODS
Seven mm nerve defects in the rat sciatic nerve were repaired by either of these three methods. Evaluation was performed at twelve weeks by morphometry of the tibial nerve distal to the repair site and by weight of the gastrocnemius muscle, an indicator of target reinnervation.


RESULTS
The number of nerve fibers and myelin areas in the tibial nerve were similar for all repair methods as were the weight of the gastrocnemius muscle.


CONCLUSIONS
Longitudinal sutures can be used to bridge short nerve defects and could be an alternative to nerve grafting.
Department of Hand Surgery, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden. Peter.Scherman@hand.mas.lu.se
Peter
P
Scherman
Martin
M
Kanje
Lars B
LB
Dahlin
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000294:innervation; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000637:transplantation*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013537:Sutures