Porosity of the wall of a Neurolac® nerve conduit hampers nerve regeneration

One way to improve nerve regeneration and bridge longer nerve gaps may be the use of semipermeable/porous conduits. With porosity less biomaterial is used for the nerve conduit. We evaluated the short‐term effects of porous Neurolac® nerve conduits for in vivo peripheral nerve regeneration. In 10 male Black Hooded rats, a gap of 10 mm was bridged by a porous Neurolac® nerve conduit. Evaluation point ranged from 3 to 12 weeks. The sciatic nerve function was not measurable due to automutilation and flexion contractures. The gait‐stance duration showed no improvement with time, indicating a disturbed walking pattern. The nerve guides showed very fast degradation with swelling, fragmentation, and collapse. Furthermore, a severe foreign body reaction occurred. Nerve regeneration was severely hampered. This study showed no beneficial effects of porous Neurolac® nerve conduits when compared with previous findings with nonporous copolymeric nerve guides of a slightly different composition. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2009.