The injuries of the peripheral nerves are relatively frequent. Some of them may lead to defects which cannot be repaired with direct end-to-end repair without tension. These injuries may cause function loss to the patient, and they consist a challenge for the treating microsurgeon. Autologous nerve grafts remain the gold standard for bridging the peripheral nerve defects. Nevertheless, there are selected cases where alternative types of nerve reconstruction can be performed in order to cover the peripheral nerve defects. In all these types of reconstruction, the basic principles of microsurgery are necessary and the surgeon should be aware of them in order to achieve a successful reconstruction. The purpose of the present review was to present the most current data concerning the surgical options available for bridging such defects.
Keywords: End-to-side neurorrhaphy; Nerve allograft; Nerve autograft; Nerve conduit; Nerve transfer; Peripheral nerve defect.