Sural Nerve Harvest

Abstract

Sensory nerves are harvested for nerve grafting, and the sural nerve is the most common donor nerve utilized. It can reliably provide 30 cm of usable nerve graft from one lower extremity with minimal donor site morbidity. In the setting of brachial plexus reconstruction, autologous nerve graft is the gold standard when possible; thus successful sural nerve harvest is a critical aspect of nerve reconstruction. Advances in minimally invasive harvest techniques in sural nerve graft harvest continue to improve associated donor site morbidity.