In cases of peripheral nerve damage the gap between proximal and distal stumps can be closed by suturing the ends together, using a nerve graft, or by nerve tubulization. Suturing allows regeneration but does not prevent formation of painful neuromas which adhere to adjacent tissues. Autografts are not reported to be as good as tubulization and require a second surgical site with additional risks and complications. Tubulization involves implanting a nerve guide tube that will provide a stable environment for axon proliferation while simultaneously preventing formation of fibrous scar tissue. Supplementing tubes with a collagen gel or collagen plus extracellular matrix factors is reported to increase axon proliferation when compared to controls. But there is no information regarding the use of collagen fibers to guide nerve cell migration through a tube. This communication reports ultrastructural observations on rat sciatic nerve regeneration through a silicone nerve stent containing crosslinked collagen fibers.Collagen fibers were prepared as described previously. The fibers were threaded through a silicone tube to form a central plug. One cm segments of sciatic nerve were excised from Sprague Dawley rats. A control group of rats received a silicone tube implant without collagen while an experimental group received the silicone tube containing a collagen fiber plug. At 4 and 6 weeks postoperatively, the implants were removed and fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde buffered by 0.1 M cacodylate containing 1.5 mM CaCl2 and balanced by 0.1 M sucrose. The explants were post-fixed in 1% OSO4, block stained in 1% uranyl acetate, dehydrated and embedded in Epon. Axons were counted on montages prepared at a total magnification of 1700x. Montages were viewed through a dissecting microscope. Thin sections were sampled from the proximal, middle and distal regions of regenerating sciatic plugs.
