The efficacy of vein conduits on the healing of digital nerves

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of wrapping nerve suture over recovery. In this prospective study, 72 patients with injured digital collateral nerves were studied during six months after microsurgical repair. 28 patients had nerve epiperineural suture with vein conduit wrapping and 44 patients had simple epiperineural nerve suture. We compare these two groups in terms of spontaneous pain, pain caused by impact and cold intolerance. We also investigated sensitive recovery with Weber test, Dellon test and the five monofilaments test. We also performed ultrasound at six months after surgery. The result of this study is in favor of using wrapping with vein to decrease presence of neuroma, pain and discomfort caused by contact without negative effect on sensitive recovery.