Mid-term outcomes of digital nerve injuries treated with Renerve® synthetic collagen nerve conduits: A retrospective single-center study

Shinsuke Takeda; Shigeru Kurimoto; Yoshihiro Tanaka; So Mitsuya; Hitoshi Hirata; Hideki Murakami; Surut Jianmongkol; Hideki Okamoto

doi:10.1016/j.jos.2023.04.004

Mid-term outcomes of digital nerve injuries treated with Renerve® synthetic collagen nerve conduits: A retrospective single-center study

J Orthop Sci. 2023 May 4:S0949-2658(23)00096-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jos.2023.04.004. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shinsuke Takeda¹, Shigeru Kurimoto², Yoshihiro Tanaka³, So Mitsuya⁴, Hitoshi Hirata², Hideki Murakami⁵, Surut Jianmongkol⁶, Hideki Okamoto⁵

Affiliations

¹ Trauma and Microsurgery Center, Toyohashi Municipal Hospital, Toyohashi, Japan; Hand and Reconstructive Unit, Department of Orthopedics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. Electronic address: s7.takeda.jpn@gmail.com.
² Department of Hand Surgery, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
³ Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA.
⁴ Trauma and Microsurgery Center, Toyohashi Municipal Hospital, Toyohashi, Japan.
⁵ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya City University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
⁶ Hand and Reconstructive Unit, Department of Orthopedics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

PMID: 37149481
DOI: 10.1016/j.jos.2023.04.004

Abstract

Background: Biodegradable synthetic nerve conduits have become widely used for peripheral nerve injuries. Recently, bioabsorbable collagen conduits filled with collagen fibers (Renerve®) are commercially available in Japan. We investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of Renerve® conduits for digital nerve repair.

Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed data of patients who underwent digital nerve repair using Renerve® conduits between August 2017 and February 2022 at our hospital and were followed up for at least 12 months. Seventeen patients (20 nerves) with a median age of 46.5 years (interquartile rage: 26-48 years) were included in the analysis. We analyzed sensory nerve function recovery and residual pain or uncomfortable tingling, as well as safety outcomes. The relationship between nerve defect length and sensory function data was assessed using Spearman's rank correlation.

Results: Sensory nerve function at 12 months postoperatively was excellent in six, good in 10, and poor in four nerves, and that at the final follow-up (median period, 24 months; range, 12-30 months) was excellent in nine, good in 10, and poor in one nerve. All nerves with a defect length of <12 mm had excellent or good sensory outcomes. At 12 months postoperatively, the correlation coefficients between nerve defect length and Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test results, static two-point discrimination, and dynamic two-point discrimination were 0.35 (p = 0.131), 0.397 (p = 0.0827), and 0.451 (p = 0.0461), respectively. Residual pain or tingling sensation were observed in four nerves at the final follow-up. No postoperative complications were observed in any of the patients.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated the clinical efficacy and safety of Renerve® conduits for digital nerve repair. Our results will be useful in clinical practice because of the scarcity of real-world data on the use of Renerve® conduits for digital nerve repair.

Keywords: Bioabsorbable collagen nerve conduit; Renerve®; Synthetic collagen nerve conduit filled with collagen filaments.