RESEARCH ARTICLE


Recent Advances and Developments in Neural Repair and Regeneration for Hand Surgery



Mukai Chimutengwende-Gordon* , Wasim Khan
University College London Institute of Orthopaedic and Musculoskeletal Sciences, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, Middlesex, HA7 4LP, UK


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Creative Commons License
© Chimutengwende-Gordon and Khan; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the University College London Institute of Orthopaedic and Musculoskeletal Sciences, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, Middlesex, HA7 4LP, UK; Tel: 02089540268, Ext. 5304; Fax: 02084207392; E-mail: mukai.cg@mac.com


Abstract

End-to-end suture of nerves and autologous nerve grafts are the ‘gold standard’ for repair and reconstruction of peripheral nerves. However, techniques such as sutureless nerve repair with tissue glues, end-to-side nerve repair and allografts exist as alternatives. Biological and synthetic nerve conduits have had some success in early clinical studies on reconstruction of nerve defects in the hand. The effectiveness of nerve regeneration could potentially be increased by using these nerve conduits as scaffolds for delivery of Schwann cells, stem cells, neurotrophic and neurotropic factors or extracellular matrix proteins. There has been extensive in vitro and in vivo research conducted on these techniques. The clinical applicability and efficacy of these techniques needs to be investigated fully.

Keywords: Conduits, Grafts, Repair, Neurotrophic factors, Schwann cells.