title: Use of nerve elongator to repair short-distance peripheral nerve defects: a prospective randomized study.
abstract: Repair techniques for short-distance peripheral nerve defects, including adjacent joint flexion to reduce the distance between the nerve stump defects, "nerve splint" suturing, and nerve sleeve connection, have some disadvantages. Therefore, we designed a repair technique involving intraoperative tension-free application of a nerve elongator and obtained good outcomes in the repair of short-distance peripheral nerve defects in a previous animal study. The present study compared the clinical outcomes between the use of this nerve elongator and performance of the conventional method in the repair of short-distance transection injuries in human elbows. The 3-, 6-, and 12-month postoperative follow-up results demonstrated that early neurological function recovery was better in the nerve elongation group than in the conventional group, but no significant difference in long-term neurological function recovery was detected between the two groups. In the nerve elongation group, the nerves were sutured without tension, and the duration of postoperative immobilization of the elbow was decreased. Elbow function rehabilitation was significantly better in the nerve elongation group than in the control group. Moreover, there were no security risks. The results of this study confirm that the use of this nerve elongator for repair of short-distance peripheral nerve defects is safe and effective.
authors: Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: Bai
authors: Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: Tian-Bing
authors: TB
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Wei-Wen
authors: WW
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Ji-Hai
authors: JH
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Xiao-Ming
authors: XM
authors: Cai
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Dan-Ya
authors: DY
authors: Zhou
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Li-Bing
authors: LB
authors: Cai
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Jia-Dong
authors: JD
authors: Pan
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Min-Tao
authors: MT
authors: Tian
authors: Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: Dian-Ying
authors: DY
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: Zhong-Guo
authors: ZG
authors: Fu
authors: Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: Pei-Xun
authors: PX
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: Bao-Guo
authors: BG
authors: Jiang
keywords: British Medical Research Council scale; NSFC grants; nerve elongator; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurological function; peripheral nerve deficiency; prognosis