Transected sciatic nerve repair by diode laser protein soldering

Background and Objective: Despite advances in microsurgical techniques, repair of peripheral nerve injuries (PNI) is still a major challenge in regenerative medicine. The standard treatment for PNI includes suturing and anasthomosis of the transected nerve. The objective of this study was to compare neurorraphy (nerve repair) using standard suturingto diode laser protein soldering on the functional recovery of transected sciatic nerves. Study Design/Materials and Methods: Thirty adult male Fischer-344 Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups: 1. The control group, no repair, 2. the standard of care suture group, and 3. The laser/protein solder group. For all three groups, the sciatic nerve was transected and the repair was done immediately. For the suture repair group, 10.0 prolene suture was used and for the laser/protein solder group a diode laser (500 mW output power) in combination with bovine serum albumen and indocyanine green dye was used. Behavioral assessment by sciatic functional index was done on all rats biweekly. At 12 weeks post-surgery, EMG recordings were done on all the rats and the rats were euthanized for histological evaluation of the sciatic nerves. The one-way ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The average time required to perform the surgery was significantly shorter for the laser-assisted nerve repair group compared to the suture group. The EMG evaluation revealed no difference between the two groups. Based on the sciatic function index the laser group was significantly better than the suture group after 12 weeks (p < 0.05). Histopathologic evaluation indicated that the epineurium recovery was better in the laser group (p < 0.05). There was no difference in the inflammation between the suture and laser groups. Conclusion: Based on this evidence, laser/protein nerve soldering is a more efficient and efficacious method for repair of nerve injury compared to neurorraphy using standard suturing methods.