Assessment of the Effect of Autograft Orientation on Peripheral Nerve Regeneration Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging.

Purpose: Given no definite consensus on the accepted autograft orientation during peripheral nerve injury repair, we compare outcomes between reverse and normally oriented autografts using an advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique, diffusion tensor imaging.

Methods: Thirty-six female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups: sham-left sciatic nerve isolation without injury, reverse autograft-10-mm cut left sciatic nerve segment reoriented 180° and used to coapt the proximal and distal stumps, or normally oriented autograft-10-mm cut nerve segment kept in its normal orientation for coaptation. Animals underwent sciatic functional index and foot fault behavior studies at 72 hours, and then weekly.

Immediate Enhancement of Nerve Function Using a Novel Axonal Fusion Device After Neurotmesis.

Background: The management of peripheral nerve injuries remains a large challenge for plastic surgeons. With the inability to fuse axonal endings, results after microsurgical nerve repair have been inconsistent. Our current nerve repair strategies rely upon the slow and lengthy process of axonal regeneration (~1 mm/d).

Evaluation of a Nerve Fusion Technique With Polyethylene Glycol in a Delayed Setting After Nerve Injury.

Purpose: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been hypothesized to restore axonal continuity using an in vivo rat sciatic nerve injury model when nerve repair occurs within minutes after nerve injury. We hypothesized that PEG could restore axonal continuity when nerve repair was delayed.

Methods: The left sciatic nerves of female Sprague-Dawley rats were transected and repaired in an end-to-end fashion using standard microsurgical techniques at 3 time points (1, 8, and 24 hours) after injury.

Ring Avulsion Injuries: A Systematic Review.

Background: Ring avulsion injuries can range from soft tissue injury to complete amputation. Grading systems have been developed to guide treatment, but there is controversy with high-grade injuries. Traditionally, advanced ring injuries have been treated with completion amputation, but there is evidence that severe ring injuries can be salvaged.

Polyethylene glycol restores axonal conduction after corpus callosum transection.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been shown to restore axonal continuity after peripheral nerve transection in animal models. We hypothesized that PEG can also restore axonal continuity in the central nervous system. In this current experiment, coronal sectioning of the brains of Sprague-Dawley rats was performed after animal sacrifice.