Tiam Mana Saffari

102 CHAPTER 5 injury is composed of two phases: after the early first phase, triggered by Wallerian degeneration in the first week, the second phase comprises from one to six weeks after injury. This phase is characterized by the increase in number of vessels and associated with nerve regeneration and axonal myelination 6,34,35 . However, differences between these phases, or newly developed vessels could not be distinguished from older vessels using these techniques. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study highlight the revascularization patterns after interposition nerve grafting in rats over time. The importance of adding a well-vascularized bed for nerve allografts, in means of a pedicled flap wrapped around a nerve, are objectively measured and visualized over the length of the nerve as well as in the various cross sectional rings of the nerve. Based on this study, we can conclude that the blood supply of the recipient bed determines the degree of early revascularization of the nerve graft. Furthermore, revascularization occurs primarily from proximal to distal (proximal inosculation) and not from both ends as previously believed and confirms the theory of centripetal revascularization. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank JimPostier (Rochester, MN) for the artwork of Figure 6. Conflicts of interest None declared. Supplemental Video 1: Videos of the micro CT imaged nerves in Figure 1. Scan the QR code to view the videos of Chapter 5.