title: Origin and history of end-to-side neurorrhaphy.
abstract: This historical note offers a perspective concerning the origin of the employment of end-to-side (termino-lateral) anastomosis for nerve repair and summarizes the works that have been published on this surgical technique through the first part of the 20th Century. While the origin of end-to-side neurorrhaphy is usually dated to the beginning of the 20th Century, some works referring to this technique were published earlier, the first of which dates as far back as 1873. A number of interesting clinical and experimental studies have been carried out on end-to-side nerve anastomosis during the first years of the twentieth century. However, this literature is not easily detectable through current online scientific databases. In this paper we will give an overview of these early works. This history contributes interesting information to the debate surrounding this surgical concept and adds perspective to the use of a technique that has attracted a great deal of attention over the last 15 years.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento delle Specialità Chirurgiche, Sezione di Chirurgia Plastica, Università di Messina, Policlinico Universitario, Via C. Valeria, Messina 98100, Italy. ipapalia@unime.it
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Papalia
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geuna
authors.forename: F Stagno
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: D'Alcontres
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tos
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009412:Nerve Fibers; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000266:history*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000601:surgery