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The reconstruction after peripheral nerve damage, especially for long-segment nerve defects, remains a clinical challenge. Autologous nerve graft transplantation is an efficient method for the repair of peripheral nerve defects, but the involved complications and shortcomings have greatly limited the clinical efficacy of treatments offered to patients with nerve defects. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic strategies and explore alternatives to autologous nerve transplantation in clinical practice, based on the knowledge of the peripheral nerve regeneration mechanism and biological histocompatibility principles. With significant advances in the research and application of nerve conduits, they have been used to repair peripheral nerve injury for several decades. In this paper, the study background of nerve conduits, their applications in clinic, status of conduit material research and construction of tissue-engineered artificial nerves were reviewed.


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Progress in the research and development of nerve conduits

Show Author's information Xiyuan Wang1Lin Chen2( )Qiang Ao1( )Aruna Sharma3Hari Shanker Sharma3
Department of Tissue Engineering, China Medical University, Shen Yang 110122, China
Department of Neurosurgery, Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital, Beijing 100040, China
Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Research, Department of Surgical Sciences Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital, Uppsala University, Sweden

Abstract

The reconstruction after peripheral nerve damage, especially for long-segment nerve defects, remains a clinical challenge. Autologous nerve graft transplantation is an efficient method for the repair of peripheral nerve defects, but the involved complications and shortcomings have greatly limited the clinical efficacy of treatments offered to patients with nerve defects. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic strategies and explore alternatives to autologous nerve transplantation in clinical practice, based on the knowledge of the peripheral nerve regeneration mechanism and biological histocompatibility principles. With significant advances in the research and application of nerve conduits, they have been used to repair peripheral nerve injury for several decades. In this paper, the study background of nerve conduits, their applications in clinic, status of conduit material research and construction of tissue-engineered artificial nerves were reviewed.

Keywords: review, peripheral nerve, repair, injury, conduits

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 21 September 2015
Revised: 28 October 2015
Accepted: 09 November 2015
Published: 01 December 2015
Issue date: December 2015

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© The authors 2015.

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