Facial neurorrhaphy with autologous sural nerve graft using the CO2 laser in a primate model.

CRANIAL NERVES, BEING of fine caliber and having a poorly defined epineurium, pose problems in intracranial sutural anastomosis. The CO 2 laser is a comparatively new prospect that is being evaluated for sutureless neural anastomosis. Because there are no reports on the laser anastomosis of a peripheral spinal nerve to a cranial nerve, we designed this study to explore the possibility of performing a laser anastomosis of the facial nerve, using an autologous sural nerve graft in a primate model. Six monkeys underwent resection of the right facial nerve in the parotid fossa. In five of them, the CO 2 laser was used to anastomose sural nerve interposition grafts by the use of microsurgical techniques. In one control animal, the sural nerve graft was interposed between the cut ends of the facial nerve and no anastomosis was performed