title: Peripheral nerve regeneration with conduits: use of vein tubes.
abstract: Treatment of peripheral nerve injuries remains a challenge to modern medicine due to the complexity of the neurobiological nerve regenerating process. There is a greater challenge when the transected nerve ends are not amenable to primary end-to-end tensionless neurorraphy. When facing a segmental nerve defect, great effort has been made to develop an alternative to the autologous nerve graft in order to circumvent morbidity at donor site, such as neuroma formation, scarring and permanent loss of function. Tubolization techniques have been developed to bridge nerve gaps and have been extensively studied in numerous experimental and clinical trials. The use of a conduit intends to act as a vehicle for moderation and modulation of the cellular and molecular ambience for nerve regeneration. Among several conduits, vein tubes were validated for clinical application with improving outcomes over the years. This article aims to address the investigation and treatment of segmental nerve injury and draw the current panorama on the use of vein tubes as an autogenous nerve conduit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Guerra
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Sabongi
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Baptista Gomes
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
keywords: Wallerian degeneration; autografts; nerve conduit; nerve graft; nerve regeneration; neurotrophic factors; peripheral nerve injury; veins