Abstract
BACKGROUND: Treatment of patients with traumatic axonotmesis presents challenges. Processed human umbilical cord membrane has been recently developed with improved handling and resorption time compared to other amniotic membrane wraps, and may be beneficial in nerve reconstruction. This study evaluates postoperative outcomes after traumatic peripheral nerve injury after placement of commercially available processed human umbilical cord membrane. METHODS: We performed a prospective, single-center pilot study of patients undergoing multi-level surgical reconstruction for exposed, non-transected peripheral nerve. Functional outcomes including pain, range of motion, pinch and grip strength, and the QuickDASH and SF-36 patient-reported outcome measures were recorded, when possible, at the 1-week and 3, 6, and 9 months postop visit. One-tailed paired t-tests were performed to evaluate outcome improvement at final follow-up. RESULTS: Twenty patients had processed human umbilical cord membrane placement without surgical complications. Mean follow-up was 7.5 months (range: 3-10 months) and mean age was 39 years (range: 15-65). Twelve (67%) patients were male, and the majority of placement sites were in the upper extremity (85%). Mean preoperative visual analog scale pain score was significantly reduced at most recent follow-up, as were QuickDASH scores. All patients had improved functional outcomes at the 9-month follow-up, and SF-36 outcomes at 9 months showed improvement across all dimensions. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that processed human umbilical cord membrane may be a useful adjunct in nerve surgery with noted improvements in postoperative function, pain, and patient-reported outcome measures. Future studies are needed to assess long-term outcomes after traumatic nerve injury treated with processed human umbilical cord membrane.