title: Chemoattractive capacity of different lengths of nerve fragments bridging regeneration chambers for the repair of sciatic nerve defects.
abstract: A preliminary study by our research group showed that 6-mm-long regeneration chamber bridging is equivalent to autologous nerve transplantation for the repair of 12-mm nerve defects. In this study, we compared the efficacy of different lengths (6, 8, 10 mm) of nerve fragments bridging 6-mm regeneration chambers for the repair of 12-mm-long nerve defects. At 16 weeks after the regeneration chamber was implanted, the number, diameter and myelin sheath thickness of the regenerated nerve fibers, as well as the conduction velocity of the sciatic nerve and gastrocnemius muscle wet weight ratio, were similar to that observed with autologous nerve transplantation. Our results demonstrate that 6-, 8- and 10-mm-long nerve fragments bridging 6-mm regeneration chambers effectively repair 12-mm-long nerve defects. Because the chemoattractive capacity is not affected by the length of the nerve fragment, we suggest adopting 6-mm-long nerve fragments for the repair of peripheral nerve defects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hand Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, Liaoning Province, China.
authors.forename: Jiren
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hand Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, Liaoning Province, China.
authors.forename: Yubo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hand Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, Liaoning Province, China.
authors.forename: Jincheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: bridging; chemotactic ability; long nerve defect; nerve fragment length; nerve regeneration chamber; neural regeneration