Table 1.
Nerve regeneration after nerve injury and reconstruction with PLLA nerve guide.
| Autologous nerve graft | Hollow tube | PLLA nerve guide | Nerve guide + cells | p-values (KW) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NF max length (mm) | 10.00 (8.98, 10.00) | 10.00 (6.04, 10.00)cd | 4.14 (1.46, 9.02)ab | 3.11 (2.19, 3.94)ab | <0.001 |
| NF average length (mm) | 10.00 (8.98, 10.00) | 10.00 (6.04, 10.00)cd | 3.27 (1.16, 5.61)ab | 2.59 (1.88, 3.75)ab | <0.001 |
| ED1 prox (cells/mm2) | 44 (20, 68) | 40 (12, 100) | 69 (54, 252)a | 0.038 | |
| ED1 5 mm dist (cells/mm2) | 44 (26, 106) | 34 (10, 60)ad | 88 (6, 194)ac | 0.007 | |
| S-100 (length in mm) | 9.988 (5.753, 1.184) | 9.253 (4.851, 15.142)d | 9.836 (3.925, 12.865)d | 3.905 (2.012, 8.906)abc | 0.006 |
NF, ED1 and S-100 staining of longitudinal sections of the PLLA nerve guide. Values are expressed as median (min, max). KW = Kruskal-Wallis. Statistical significance (p < 0.05) based on the Mann-Whitney U-test is indicated as follows: asignificant difference from autologous nerve graft; bsignificant difference from hollow tube; csignificant difference from PLLA nerve guide; dsignificant difference from PLLA nerve guide + cells.