MICRO-SURGICAL FASCICULAR NERVE REPAIR: A MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ENDONEURIAL BULGE

The phenomenon of ‘endoneurial bulging ’ from the cut end of the divided nerve fasciculus in the rat sciatic nerve has been examined with light and scanning electron microscopy and the morphological changes compared when dividing the fasciculus with either micro-scissors or a sharp razor blade. When a nerve fasciculus is divided, a phenomenon occurs which has been variously described as ‘propulsion ’ of the endoneurial tissue from the perineurial cylinder (Millesi, 1972), mushrooming of axonal contents and extrusion of intra-fascicular contents (Daniel & Terzis, 1977), protrusion of intra-fascicular contents (Tupper, 1980), and axonal bulging (Behrman & Acland, 1981). This occurrence has presented a frequent technical problem in the micro-surgical fascicular repair of peripheral nerves a technique that was introduced by Smith (1964). We hav