Autogenous vein and nerve grafts: a comparative study of nerve regeneration in the rat.

A new experimental model using the rat sciatic nerve has been devised and used in ten rats to compare the results of using a vein and a nerve graft in different fascicles of the same sciatic nerve, a third fascicle being preserved intact as a control. The results, judged clinically, electrophysiologically and histologically, show persistence of the vein graft as a conduit even six months after the operation and a similar pattern of nerve regeneration in the two different grafts.