Multichannel, biomimetic scaffolds improve functional connectivity following traumatic long-gap peripheral nerve injury

Abstract The gold standard for repair of peripheral nerve injuries is a nerve autograft. Donor nerve harvest creates a second surgical site, invariable numbness and donor site chronic neuropathic pain in 20% of cases. We developed a poly-caprolactone (PCL) multichannel, biomimetic scaffold with surface features promoting cell and vascular attachment and rapid, linear axonal regeneration. The cross-sectional area available for axonal regeneration exceeds that of autografts. When compared to nerve autografts and FDA-approved nerve conduits in 1cm-long rat and 3cm-long rabbit sciatic gap injury, biomimetic scaffolds were equivalent or superior to nerve autografts on measures of axonal regeneration, re-connection between gastrocnemius muscle and spinal cord motor neurons, and evoked motor responses. Scaffolds were superior in all measures to open tube conduits. Biomimetic multichannel scaffolds have potential to replace the need for autografting for peripheral nerve gap repair and are now undergoing multicenter clinical trials.