Use of Vein Conduit and Isolated Nerve Graft in Peripheral Nerve Repair: A Comparative Study

Table 1

Baseline characteristics.

Characteristics	Study group = 20; (nerve graft + vein conduit)	Control group = 20; (nerve graft)
Mean age (years)	28 ± 7	29 ± 6
Etiology	Sharp injury—8 (40%); Crush injury—12 (60%)	Sharp injury—9 (45%); Crush injury—11 (55%)
Types of nerve	Ulnar—7; Median—13	Ulnar—8; Median—12
Time since injury	Old injury—5 (25%); Fresh injury—15 (75%)	Old injury—6 (30%); Fresh injury—14 (70%)
Nerve defect	3.5 cm—6 (30%); 4.5 cm—8 (40%); 5.5 cm—6 (30%)	3.5 cm—7 (35%); 4.5 cm—7 (35%); 5.5 cm—6 (30%)
Types of repair	Epineural	Epineural
Mean distance from proximal nerve end to tip of middle finger	10–15—5; 15–20—13; >20—2	10–15 cm—6; 15–20 cm—12; >20 cm—2
Smoking	3 (15%)	4 (20%)
Associated vascular injury	4 (20%)	3 (15%)
Associated tendon injury	3 (15%)	4 (20%)
Associated co morbidity	None	None