Fat Graft in End-to-Side Neurorrhaphy: Experimental Study in Rats.

• Grant number: 22/00056-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2022
• End date: May 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Fausto Viterbo de Oliveira Neto
• Grantee: Lucas Vannuchi Magnani
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Peripheral nerve injury continues to be a major challenge in medicine, due to the absence of evaluation markers and the great psychosocial impact.Currently, the main technique used is the end-to-end neurorrhaphy, although it has serious limitations when it is impossible to use the distal stump or after a long period of trauma.As an important alternative, end-to-side neurorrhaphy makes it possible to correct a peripheral nerve by connecting the distal stump to the lateral portion of a healthy nerve, without injuring it. Thereby, several clinical applications were originated, enabling the treatment of complex conditions, such as facial palsy, brachial plexus lesions, anosmia, among others.In the search for methods to amplify nerve regeneration after neurorrhaphy, several studies were conducted, such as the use of application of stem cells derived from fat in end-to-side neurorrhaphy. Thus, Paiva et al. found excellent results, concluding that the groups in which stem cells inherited from fat were used, the number of nerve fibers and the functional index of the peronial nerve were similar to the normal control group.Although fat graft enriched with stem cells has excellent results, it is still an expensive procedure, with little accessibility, in addition to being time-consuming. Therefore, we decided to evaluate an application of pure autologous fat graft, widely accessible in surgical procedures, in end-to-side neurorrhaphy after peripheral nerve section. Therewith, if we obtain positive results, similar to Paiva's, fat grafting could be applied in end-to-side neurorrhaphy procedures, expanding nerve regeneration and improving operative results.