Inside‐out vein graft and inside‐out artery graft in rat sciatic nerve repair

Abstract

Although veins and arteries present similar wall structures, there are differences which may be relevant in peripheral nerve reconstruction. Inside-out vein grafts (IOVG) have been satisfactorily used to repair both motor and sensitive nerves. However, the inside-out artery graft (IOAG) is a new technique and not fully investigated. Our study presents comparative morphological data on nerve regeneration achieved with IOVG and IOAG in the repair of Wistar rat sciatic nerves. Jugular veins and aorta arteries were harvested from donor animals and used "inside-out" to bridge a 10-mm gap. Animals were sacrificed at 10 weeks to evaluate nerve regeneration. Both techniques presented great variability in nervous tissue, though some animals showed satisfactory results. Different intensities of scarring processes might have interfered with nerve regeneration. Although IOVG and IOAG techniques showed similar morphometric results, in general, IOVG presented a closer-to-normal nerve organization than IOAG.

A nanofibrous PHBV tube with Schwann cell as artificial nerve graft contributing to Rat sciatic nerve regeneration across a 30-mm defect bridge

“…Common grafting in surgery was autograft or nerve removal from elsewhere of the body. Unfortunately, autografts had limitations such as body injury, repeated surgery and disproportion of grafted nerve tissue in terms of size and structure of nerve tissue (Evans, 2000;Heath & Rutkowski, 1998) also; transplantation of allograft or xenograft had similar problems such as stimulation of the immune system (Brunelli et al, 1993;Tong et al, 1994;Fansa et al, 2002;Barcelos et al, 2003;de Ruiter et al, 2009). The studies were conducted on the application of artifi cial neural tube to form neural cords (Archibald et al, 1995;Fields et al, 1989;Keeley et al, 1993).…”

Local Administration of Nimodipine and Improvement of Functional Recovery of the Transected Sciatic Nerve after Bridging with Inside-out Artery Graft

“…These include the use of vein graft (Chiu and Strauch 1990), arterial grafts and muscle graft for short nerve gap (less than 3 cm) (Schonauer, et al 2006).These options are difficult to use for larger defects. Use of vein and muscle for larger defect may lead to collapse and dispersion of regenerating axons out of the muscle, respectively (Barcelos et al, 2003). Arteries have been experimentally used as grafting tubules and promising results have been achieved (Barcelos et al, 2003).…”

“…Use of vein and muscle for larger defect may lead to collapse and dispersion of regenerating axons out of the muscle, respectively (Barcelos et al, 2003). Arteries have been experimentally used as grafting tubules and promising results have been achieved (Barcelos et al, 2003). Membranes of the proximal and distal portions of the transected axons are resealed 5-30 min after the transection (Yawo and Kuno 1985).…”

“…As well as requiring nerve fiber contact, normal Schwann-cell differentiation requires contact with a connective tissue matrix or some associated material such a collagen (Bunge and Bunge 1978). Standard artery graft basal membrane tube diameter is large, and the contact surface for migrating Schwann cell or axonal outgrowth cone adhesion becomes very small (Wang et al, 1995;Barcelos et al, 2003). Nevertheless, in inside-out artery grafts, this negative effect might be diminished once the adventitia provides a permissive matrix which increases the contact surface for axons (Barcelos et al, 2003).…”

“…Standard artery graft basal membrane tube diameter is large, and the contact surface for migrating Schwann cell or axonal outgrowth cone adhesion becomes very small (Wang et al, 1995;Barcelos et al, 2003). Nevertheless, in inside-out artery grafts, this negative effect might be diminished once the adventitia provides a permissive matrix which increases the contact surface for axons (Barcelos et al, 2003). Nimodipine, a calcium channel blocker, is a US Food and Drug Administration approved drug used to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with delayed ischemic deficits in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.…”