Annals of plastic surgery
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Annals of plastic surgery · Mar 1985
Experimental study of vascularized nerve grafts: morphometric study of axonal regeneration of nerves transplanted into silicone tubes.
Rat sciatic nerves were used in a comparative study of vascularized and free (nonvascularized) nerve grafts transplanted into silicone tubes. A total of 39 sciatic nerves were used, 21 as vascularized nerve grafts and 18 as free nerve grafts. ⋯ Furthermore, the diameters of myelinated axons in the vascularized nerve graft were larger than those in the free nerve graft at all specimen sites during all postoperative weeks. We suggest that the preservation of the vascular system in vascularized nerve grafts would decrease the likelihood of fibrosis and result in better regeneration of axons.