“Tension-Free” Vein-Patched Nerve Repair: An Experimental Study in Dogs

The aim of the reported investigation was to study the use of an alternative technique to alleviate tension at the suture site, when repairing a damaged nerve with a gap of 10 mm between the nerve stumps, by means of vein-patched neurorrhaphy.

A morphologic/quantitative and biomechanical study was done comparing the proposed technique with nerve graft and with suture under tension. There was no significant statistical difference in the morphology and the mean number of axons in the proximal and distal stumps. But there was a significant statistical difference in the biomechanical behavior of the repaired nerves, compared the proposed technique with each one of the other techniques.