2025 Volume 38 Issue 3 Pages 113-119
In the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries with nerve defects, collagen conduits have shown the potential for promoting nerve regeneration. However, there is concern related to the weak material properties. This study aimed to investigate the tensile strength and failure patterns in nerve defect models bridged with Renerve® conduits through biomechanical research. Using fresh chicken sciatic nerves, we examined the maximum failure load and failure patterns of four groups: bridging models using Renerve® with one suture（group A）, with two sutures（group B）, with three sutures（group C）, and end-to-end neurorrhaphy models with two sutures（group N）. Each group had eight specimens. As a results, group N showed a significantly higher maximum failure load（0.96±0.13 N）than groups A（0.23±0.06 N, p < 0.0001）, B（0.29±0.05 N, p < 0.0001）, and C（0.40±0.10 N, p < 0.0001）. Regarding failure patterns, all specimens in group A showed nerve end dislocation from the conduit. Specimens in group B and C failed due to circumferential cracks or cutting out of sutures from the conduit. This study suggests that the number of sutures in synthetic collagen nerve conduits has little effect on the tensile strength.
