title: Peripheral nerve injuries: an international survey of current treatments and future perspectives.
abstract: Peripheral nerve injuries are a serious health concern and leave many patients with lifelong disabilities. There is little information about incidences, current practice, outcomes, and type of research that may help delineate new strategies. A questionnaire was designed to determine characteristics of peripheral nerve injuries and the need for alternative strategies and sent to 889 plastic, hand, trauma, and orthopedic surgeons in 49 countries; 324 completed surveys were collected and analyzed (total response rate of 36.45%). The majority of institutions treat more than 3000 patients annually. Trauma was the leading cause of injury with the majority located on the upper extremity. In most cases, a primary repair was achieved, but 2.52% were unrepairable. The overall outcome was linked to their Sunderland classification (SCL). A grade 1 nerve injury (SCL-1) reached a maximum outcome after 7.15 months. SCL-2, -3, -4, and -5 needed 10.69, 14.08, 17.66, and 19.03 months, respectively. Tissue engineering was considered the most important research field, resulting in a visual analogue scale of 8.6. Despite marked advances in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries, clinical outcomes still appear unsatisfactory. The importance of research in the field of tissue engineering should be emphasized as a pathway toward improving these outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery Institute, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA. tscholz@uci.edu
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: Alisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krichevsky
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sumarto
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jaffurs
authors.forename: Garrett A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Wirth
authors.forename: Keyianoosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Paydar
authors.forename: Gregory R D
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D014943:Global Health; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D010147:Pain Measurement; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery