Abstract
Many surgical techniques are available for bridging peripheral nerve defects. Autologous
nerve grafts are the current gold standard for most clinical conditions. In selected
cases, alternative types of conduits can be used. Although most efforts are today
directed towards the development of artificial synthetic nerve guides, the use of
non-nervous autologous tissue-based conduits (biological tubulization) can still be
considered a valuable alternative to nerve autografts. In this paper we will overview
the advancements in biological tubulization of nerve defects, with either mono-component
or multiple-component autotransplants, with a special focus on the use of a vein segment
filled with skeletal muscle fibers, a technique that has been widely investigated
in our laboratory and that has already been successfully introduced in the clinical
practice.
Keywords
Nerve reconstruction - Tissue engineering - Autotransplant - Tubulization - Vein -
Skeletal muscle - Schwann cells