Injuries to peripheral nerves are common and cause life-changing problems for patients alongside high social and health care costs for society. Current clinical treatment of peripheral nerve injuries predominantly relies on sacrificing a section of nerve from elsewhere in the body to provide a graft at the injury site. Much work has been done to develop a bioengineered nerve graft, precluding s...

Novel approaches are required in the clinical management of peripheral nerve injuries because current surgical techniques result in deficient sensory recovery. Microsurgery alone fails to address extensive cell death in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG), in addition to poor axonal regeneration. Incorporation of cultured cells into nerve conduits may offer a novel approach in which to combine nerve ...

The surgeon, who treats nerve injuries, should have knowledge about how peripheral nerves react to trauma, particularly an understanding about the extensive pathophysiological alterations that occur both in the peripheral and in the central nervous system. A large number of factors influence the functional outcome, where the surgeon only can affect a few of them. In view of the new knowledge ab...

Chitosan nerve guides are currently being utilized to repair damaged or injured peripheral nerves. To enhance the nerve regeneration process, instead of using the material alone, researchers are focusing on blending different proteins or molecules with chitosan to facilitate nerve repair and regeneration. In our study, we have blended chitosan with glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor an...

The International Symposium "Peripheral Nerve Repair and Regeneration and 2nd Club Brunelli Meeting" was held on December 4-5, 2009 in Turin, Italy (Organizers: Bruno Battiston, Stefano Geuna, Isabelle Perroteau, Pierluigi Tos). Interest in the study of peripheral nerve regeneration is very much alive because complete recovery of nerve function almost never occurs after nerve reconstruction and...

Following damage to peripheral nerves, a remarkable process of clearance and regeneration takes place. Axons downstream of the injury degenerate, while the nerve is remodeled to direct axonal regrowth. Schwann cells are important for this regenerative process. "Sensing" damaged axons, they dedifferentiate to a progenitor-like state, in which they aid nerve regeneration. Here, we demonstrate tha...

The written transmission of knowledge has played a great part in the advancement of medicine, and historical documents hold the key to a full exploration of the history of medicine. Some fields, including disciplines that deal with peripheral nerve disorders, have received little benefit from such valuable material. In particular, peripheral nerve surgery lacks perspectives from historical data...