Interfascicular nerve grafting.

Interfascicular nerve grafting is a useful method to repair nerves with gaps. Good motor recovery can be obtained, and return of some degree of sensibility is possible. The procedure can be used to overcome small gaps that result from neglected sharp lacerations or after failure of primary repair, or large gaps that result from loss of nerve substance or traction lesions. Primary nerve repair should be done for acute lacerations. However, in old lacerations (more than three weeks old) and in nerve gaps of more than 2 cm in length, a functional recovery can still be expected after nerve grafting. The recovery of intrinsic function in median and ulnar nerve lesions above the elbow was poor. The intrinsic recovery in these patients will be reported when long-term follow-up results are available. Recovery of intrinsic function in median nerve grafts at the wrist level was much better than for lesions of the ulnar nerve at the same level. This may be related to the anatomy of the ulnar nerve in this area. By separating the dorsal cutaneous branch from the main trunk of the nerve, using it as a donor graft, better results are to be expected.