Repair of peripheral nerve injury

1. A method for maintaining the pro-regenerative capacity of a distal nerve segment subsequent to a nerve injury, the method comprising transplanting a stretch-grown tissue engineered nerve graft (TENG) into a distal site in the distal nerve segment,

wherein the TENG facilitates axon growth and Schwann cell infiltration, thereby maintaining the pro-regenerative capacity of the distal nerve segment;

and wherein the nerve injury occurs as a result of trauma, a surgical procedure, the positioning of a patient during surgery, a compression or crush injury, a disease related to a loss of motor or sensory nerve function, a congenital anomaly, an amputation, complete or partial removal of an organ, tumor or tissue, a metabolic/endocrine complication, inflammatory disease, autoimmune disease, vitamin deficiency, infectious disease, toxin, exposure to organic metal or heavy metal, or administration of a medication or drug.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury is present in a subject.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the subject is a human.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the subject is a non-human mammal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises an injury to a peripheral nerve of a subject.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises an injury to the spinal cord of a subject.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises the loss of a segment of nerve.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises a nerve lesion of less than about 1 cm in length.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises a nerve lesion of at least about 1 cm in length.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises a nerve lesion of at least about 3 cm in length.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises a nerve lesion of at least 5 cm in length.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nerve injury comprises multiple nerve lesions.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pro-regenerative capacity of the distal nerve segment is maintained for at least about 12 weeks.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pro-regenerative capacity of the distal nerve segment is maintained until at least such time as proximal nerve axons regenerate across the nerve injury.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein pro-regenerative capacity of the distal nerve segment is maintained until at least such time as proximal nerve axons reinnervate distal targets.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises a primary procedure for nerve repair.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method results in a greater degree of functional recovery following repair of PNI, as compared to the degree of functional recovery that occurs following the primary procedure alone.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is conducted in the absence of any other nerve repair.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a neurotrophic factor, culture supernatant, or cells to the distal nerve segment.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the cells are selected from the group consisting of neurons, and stem cells.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method does not comprise transecting a nearby healthy nerve or the repaired nerve.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method enhances the survival of Schwann cells in the distal nerve segment.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distal site is at least about 3 cm away from the site of injury.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distal site is less than least about 3 cm away from the site of injury.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises contacting multiple distal nerve segments with one or more stretch-grown TENG.