Topographical cues accelerate endogenous regeneration of long peripheral nerve gaps

摘要

The clinical "gold standard" for bridging peripheral nerve gaps is autografits. However, their usefulness is limited by several issues including the requirement for multiple nerve segments, mismatch between injured nerve and nerve grafts, and the loss at the donor site [1]. Empty hollow conduits created from natural and synthetic materials have been used to bridge nerve gaps. These scaffolds have shown promising outcomes in small gaps but fail when the nerve gap is longer than 10 mm in rats or more than 30 mm in humans.