J Korean Neurosurg Soc.  1998 Apr;27(4):430-437.

Regenerative Effect of Microsuture Nerve Repair and Fibrin Glue after Rat Sciatic Nerve Section

• Kim BT
• Kim YS
• Jang JC
• Shin WH
• Choi SK
• Byun BJ

Abstract

To compare the regenerative effect of direct end-to-end suture, nerve graft and sutureless fibrin glue repair in the rat sciatic model, forty rats were divided into 4 groups: normal control group(NC-G, n=6), direct end-to-end suture group(DS-G, n=12), nerve graft group(NG-G, n=10) and sutureless fibrin glue group(FG-G, n=12). One half of each group except NC-G was sacrificed 4 weeks later and the other half was sacrificed 14 weeks later. The repair site was assessed by nerve conduction studies and quantitative morphometry. Regeneration index (RI) was defined as a total number of remyelinated axons in one quarter of 3X5 inch sized microphotograph. The comparison among groups was analyzed statistically by Kruskal-Wallis 1-way ANOVA and Mann-Whitney test. Nerve conduction study done 14 weeks later revealed that latency was 1.7ms+/-0.18(DS-G), 2.4ms+/-0.35(NG-G), 2.4ms+/-0.17(FG-G) and amplitude was 20.1mV+/-2.89(DS-G), 12.0mV+/-2.47(NG-G), 13.7mV+/-2.95(FG-G). RI was 281+/-37.5(DS-G), 227+/-14.4(NG-G) and 217+/-22.2(FG-G). There was a statistical difference in the latency, amplitude and RI between three groups(p<0.05), but there was no statistical difference in the latency, amplitude and RI between FG-G and NG-G(p>0.05). Regenerative effect of fibrin glue is not different from that of nerve graft, therefore fibrin glue repair can facilitate inaccessible nerve repairs in skull base or spinal surgery.

Keyword

Direct end-to-end suture; Nerve graft; Fibrin glue; Nerve conduction study; Regenera

MeSH Terms

Animals
Axons
Fibrin Tissue Adhesive*
Fibrin*
Neural Conduction
Rats*
Regeneration
Sciatic Nerve*
Skull Base
Sutures
Transplants
Fibrin
Fibrin Tissue Adhesive