Twenty proper digital nerves of 20 patients were repaired using the all collagen-made nerve conduit “RENERVE®” between April 2018 and April 2020, and retrospectively investigated. Eleven males and 9 females with a mean age of 42 years old (range 19-75 years) were included. The affected digits included 5 thumbs, and 8 index, 4 middle, 1 ring and 2 little fingers. The mean number of days until surgery (from the day of injury to surgery) was 27.9 (range 0-186) and the average nerve gap was 9.8 mm (range 5-20) . After a mean follow-up of 13 months, the mean static and moving two-point discriminations were 9.0 mm and 6.4 mm, respectively. On the Semmes-Weinstein test for the repaired digits, 12 digits were blue, 7 were purple and 1 was red. The pain score during the final follow-up was 10.4/100. Regarding factors related to sensory recovery after nerve repair, nerve defect length was strongly correlated with both two-point discriminations (p<0.01) . The collagen conduit was considered to be an effective option that offered acceptable sensation and nerve function for the short gap of the proper digital nerve.
