Historical review of bone prefabrication.

Prefabricated tissue represents a bridge between traditional reconstructive surgery and tissue engineering. Initially used in the 1960s in reconstructive plastic surgery, in the 1980s it was also used in orthopedics. The term "prefabricated" indicates a process of neovascularization of a tissue by implanting a vascular pedicle inside the tissue itself; this tissue can be then reimplanted either at a short distance through the pedicle itself, or as a free graft by microvascular anastomosis. The purpose of prefabrication is to build a tissue (muscle, bone, skin, or composite) with characteristics as similar as possible to those of the defect to fill, thus minimizing morbidity in the donor site and improving the reconstructive effectiveness. We present a review of the literature that includes the main experiments performed until now in which a bone segment has been reconstructed using scaffolds and growth factors in relationship to the local blood supply or to the use of a vascular pedicle.

The early history of tubulation in nerve repair.

The first experiments for bridging peripheral nerve gaps using nerve tubulation emerged in the 19th century. Because Gluck (1853-1942) is said to have performed the first animal experiment of nerve tubulation in 1880, it is interesting to explore the background and veracity of this claim. The original documents on nerve tubulation in the 19th century were studied. We conclude that the conduit that was initially used for nerve tubulation was derived from a resorbable decalcified bone tube developed for wound drainage by Neuber (1850-1932) in 1879. Gluck proposed the use of the bone tube as a guided conduit for regenerating nerves in 1881 but stated briefly that his experiments failed because of scar formation. Vanlair (1839-1914) documented the first successful application of nerve tubulation using a bone tube to bridge a 3 cm sciatic nerve defect in a dog in 1882.