Background Achieving functional repair after peripheral nerve injury (PNI) remains problematic despite considerable advances in surgical technique. Therein, questions lie regarding the variable capacity of peripheral nerves to regenerate based on environmental influence. In-depth analyses of multiple therapeutic strategies have ensued to overcome these natural obstacles. Of these candidate therapies, electrical stimulation has emerged a frontrunner. Extensive animal studies have reported the ability of brief intraoperative electrical stimulation (BES) to enhance functional regeneration after PNI. Despite these reports, the exact mechanisms by which BES enhances regeneration and its effects on long nerve lesions are largely unknown. Indeed, clinical translation of this seemingly simple therapeutic has not been so simple, but a few studies performed in humans have yielded highly encouraging results. Objective We aimed to help bridge this translational gap by presenting the latest clinical trials on electrical stimulation for PNIs in combination with relevant etiologies, treatments and nonclinical findings. Methods To do so, a systematic search was performed on PubMed, IEEE, and Web of Science databases up to February 2020 using keywords significant to our study. References of each manuscript were screened for additional manuscripts of relevance to our study. Results We found multiple BES clinical studies reporting enhanced functional recovery or increased nerve regeneration. Although improved outcomes were reported, high variability after BES is seen between and within species likely due to injury severity, location and timeline along with other factors. Conclusion Further clinical studies and introduction of novel delivery platforms are vital to uncover the true regenerative potential of electrical stimulationtherapy.

中文翻译：

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外周神经再生电刺激的转化方法

背景 尽管外科技术取得了长足的进步，但在周围神经损伤 (PNI) 后实现功能性修复仍然存在问题。其中，问题在于周围神经根据环境影响再生的可变能力。随后对多种治疗策略进行了深入分析，以克服这些自然障碍。在这些候选疗法中，电刺激已成为领跑者。广泛的动物研究报告了短暂的术中电刺激 (BES) 增强 PNI 后功能再生的能力。尽管有这些报道，但 BES 增强再生的确切机制及其对长神经病变的影响在很大程度上是未知的。事实上，这种看似简单的治疗方法的临床转化并非如此简单，但在人体中进行的一些研究产生了非常令人鼓舞的结果。目标我们旨在通过介绍 PNI 电刺激的最新临床试验以及相关病因、治疗和非临床发现来帮助弥合这一转化差距。方法为此，使用对我们的研究具有重要意义的关键字对 PubMed、IEEE 和科学网络数据库进行了系统搜索，直至 2020 年 2 月。每份手稿的参考文献都经过筛选，以寻找与我们的研究相关的其他手稿。结果 我们发现多项 BES 临床研究报告功能恢复增强或神经再生增加。尽管报告的结果有所改善，但由于损伤严重程度、位置和时间线以及其他因素，在物种之间和物种内观察到 BES 后的高度可变性。