Peripheral nerve injury is a common and devastating complication after trauma and can cause irreversible impairment or even complete functional loss of the affected limb. While peripheral nerve repair results in some axonal regeneration and functional recovery, the clinical outcome is not optimal and research continues to optimize functional recovery after nerve repair. Cell transplantation app...

A novel material for nerve regeneration, alginate, was employed in both tubulation and nontubulation repair of a long peripheral nerve defect injury. Twelve cats underwent severing of the right sciatic nerve to generate a 50-mm gap, which was treated by tubulation repair (n = 6) or nontubulation repair (n = 6). In the tubulation group, a nerve conduit consisting of polyglycolic acid mesh tube f...

BACKGROUND Common peroneal nerve palsy leading to foot drop is difficult to manage and has historically been treated with extended bracing with expectant waiting for return of nerve function. Peroneal nerve exploration has traditionally been avoided except in cases of known traumatic or iatrogenic injury, with tendon transfers being performed in a delayed fashion after exhausting conservative t...

PURPOSE Reinnervation of chronically denervated muscle is clinically unpredictable and poorly understood. Current operative strategies include either direct nerve repair, nerve grafting, nerve transfer, or neurotization. The goal of this study is to compare muscle recovery using microneural repair versus neurotization in a rat model of chronic denervation. METHODS Fifty-eight Sprague-Dawley r...

Recovery following peripheral nerve injuries is often incomplete. The gold standard treatment is surgical nerve repair performed immediately or shortly after injury. To date, there are no additional treatments that are used to enhance functional recovery. In this paper we outline two emerging applications of electrical stimulation to enhance nerve regeneration and functional recovery. The first...

Significant progress has been achieved in the science and management of peripheral nerve injuries over the past 40 years. Yet there are many questions and few answers. The author, with 30 years of experience in treating them at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, addresses debates on various issues with personal conclusions. These include: (1) Degree of peripheral nerve injury, (2) Timing of nerv...

We designed and evaluated multiagent control for microscopic robots (“nanorobots”) aiding the surgical repair of damaged nerve cells. This repair operates on both nerves as a whole, at scales of hundreds of microns, and individual nerve cell axons, at scales of about a micron. We match the robots to these sizes using a combination of microelectomechanical (MEMS) machines for the larger operatio...

BACKGROUND Scar tissue formation is the major cause of failure in peripheral nerve surgery. Use of a hyaluronic acid-carboxymethylcellulose (HA-CMC) membrane (Seprafilm) as a solid anti-adhesion barrier agent is one of the therapeutic approaches to reduce postoperative scar tissue formation. However, a solid membrane may not be suitable for repair of a weak peripheral nerve site. This study exa...

OBJECTIVE  When root avulsions are detected in children suffering from obstetrical brachial plexus palsy (OBPP), neurotization procedures of different nerve trunks are commonly applied in primary brachial plexus repair, to connect distally the nerves of the upper limbs using healthy nerve structures. This article aims to outline our experience of neurotization procedures in OBPP, which involves...

Distal biceps ruptures are uncommon injuries that comprise approximately 3% of all biceps pathology. This injury is most commonly seen in 40- to 60-year-old men, and the mechanism of injury involves a forceful extension movement to a flexed elbow. Without surgical intervention, patients are left with measurable weakness in elbow flexion and supination as well as a cosmetic deformity that often ...