
Peripheral nerve injury causes long-term disabilities for patients and also major socio-economic costs. The common approach to repair a short-distance gap in peripheral nerve is direct suturing of two stumps. In cases of long nerve gaps, implantation of autologous nerve grafts such as sural nerve to bridge the gap is still the gold standard, but it suffers from limited length, lack of donor nerves, morbidity of donor site and scar tissue invasion. The use of allogenic and xenogeneic tissues has also been suggested which eliminate the need of secondary surgeries on patients; however, they may arise the risk of disease transmission and immunogenicity problems. Nerve tissue engineering can be an alternative approach which provide a suitable and permissive microenvironment at the injury site using biocompatible scaffolds. An effective scaffold should provide required mechanical support for growing neurites, reduce scar tissue formation, and also chemical (e.g., release of nerve growth factors) and physical (e.g., topographical and electrical) signals [1–3].
