Annals of plastic surgery
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Annals of plastic surgery · Dec 2010
Repair of peripheral nerve defects with epineural sheath grafts.
In this study, we investigated the potential of using a detubulized flat epineural sheath for bridging nerve gaps as an alternative to nerve autografting. Nerve gaps were created by removing a 1.2-cm segment of sciatic nerves. Later, the epineurium was incised longitudinally, and after fascicle removal, a flat rectangular epineural sheath was created. ⋯ Assessments performed at 3, 6, and 12 weeks included functional (pinprick, toe-spread), neurosensory (somatosensory-evoked potentials), and histomorphometric evaluations. The functional results of toe-spread, somatosensory-evoked potentials, and histomorphometric data revealed comparable outcomes between autograft, 2-strip, and full sheath grafts, indicating adequate nerve regeneration. Thus, the new epineural sheath graft technique introduced in this study can be considered as an alternative method to standard nerve autografting technique.