PERIPHERAL NERVE SURGERY
—Ballance, Colledge and Bailey32 have made an experimental study of various methods of nerve anastomosis. They conclude that with sutures of absorbable material it is unimportant whether the suture passes through the neurolemma alone or whether it penetrates the nerve substance. Varnishes were tried as a substitute for sutures, but the only one that was at all successful was that made by cutting a piece of living muscle into fine bits and pounding this up with a few drops of salt solution in a mortar so that sarcous material was set free. Anastomosis by the method of double lateral implantation was successful if the ends were placed not too far apart. When a median incision is made in the receiving nerve the tendency is for the two ends to become connected. Exact end-to-end suture of the nerve fibers is not possible in any case.