A comparative assessment of lengthening followed by end-to-end repair and isograft repair of chronically injured peripheral nerves.

In this study, we compared the use of nerve lengthening/end-to-end repair (LETER) to isograft repair of chronically transected nerves in a rat model. Structural and functional regenerative outcomes following LETER were comparable to isograft-based repair, with no significant differences found in outcomes involving functional recovery or axon growth. These data demonstrate the feasibility of nerve lengthening as a viable graft-free strategy for repairing chronically injured nerves. Not unexpectedly, outcomes for chronic nerve injuries were less favorable in both groups compared to repair of acutely injured nerves. Nonetheless, the findings provide insight into barriers to restoring function after chronic nerve injury through novel comprehensive characterization of a diverse set of neuromuscular outcomes. This analysis revealed key parameters predicting functional recovery. PMID: 32333909 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Experimental Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Exp Neurol Source Type: research