Utilization Trends of Nerve Autograft Alternatives for the Reconstruction of Peripheral Nerve Defects

Abstract

Background: Autologous nerve grafting is the time-honored reconstruction method for peripheral nerve gaps. However, it is associated with donor site morbidities. A growing number of studies have demonstrated the effective use of decellularized nerve allograft and synthetic conduits, which are convenient options with no donor deficit. The specific aim of this study was to characterize changes in practice trends for peripheral nerve defect reconstruction. Methods: We queried the 2015-2020 Truven MarketScan database for patients who underwent nerve autograft, allograft, synthetic conduit, and/or vein graft reconstruction. Patient demographic data (i.e. location, indication) and hospital characteristics (i.e. facility, provider type) were recorded. Regression analysis identified changes in trends over the study period. Results: 4331 patients underwent one or more nerve gap reconstructive procedures over the study period. Since the introduction of allograft CPT code in 2018, segmented mixed effect longitudinal modeling revealed allograft utilization significantly increased from 21.5% to 29.6% after 2018 (p<0.001), whereas nerve autograft utilization decreased from 18.6% to 15.8% and conduit utilization decreased from 60% to 54.7% (p=0.09 and p=0.03, respectively). When stratifying autograft by size, use of autograft ≥4cm significantly decreased from 10.6% to 7.7% after 2018 (p=0.03), and autograft >4cm did not. When stratifying by state, there is heterogeneity in utilizati Conclusion: After creation of a designated allograft CPT code in 2018, there was an increase in allograft use with concomitant decrease in conduit and short length autograft use, suggesting that allograft replaced a portion of procedures used in short nerve gap reconstruction.