Comparison of histologic and functional recovery after peripheral nerve repair.

After repair, nerve stains of skin and subcutaneous tissue biopsies of 23 fingertips contained identifiable axons in all patients. The level of recovery was more advanced in some patients than in others, as manifested by identifiable nerve in various plexuses and receptors. Meissner's corpuscles were observed to be reinnervated in 12 of 17 patients and in 16 of 23 fingertips. The degree and level of reinnervation did not correlate with clinical testing or subjective impression of the result. The authors conclude that sensibility is the result of several factors active in the peripheral and central nervous system. Axonal regrowth is but one of these.