Axogen Avance Nerve Grafts
Vanguard Urologic Institute founders Kevin Slawin, M.D., and Tung Shu, M.D., have long been leaders in the development of minimally invasive techniques for radical prostatectomy using the da Vinci® surgical system. The outcomes speak for themselves: minimized damage to tissues surrounding the prostate and excellent cancer control rates that are equivalent to the traditional open approach to radical prostatectomy. Results also include decreased length of stay and decreased morbidity as measured by a more rapid recovery of potency and continence.
But when cancer has spread beyond the prostate, one or both cavernous nerves adjacent to the prostate may require partial or complete removal to ensure a negative surgical margin. The nerves, essential for erectile function and, to a lesser degree, urinary continence, are typically left unrepaired. At the Vanguard Urologic Institute, Drs. Slawin and Shu offer nerve grafting at the time of prostatectomy, providing patients with an increased chance of recovering sexual potency following the healing process.
“We’ve published our results demonstrating improved outcomes in continence and potency in men who require neurovascular bundle resection, either unilateral or bilateral, and undergo sural nerve graft procedures at the time of their initial surgery,” says Dr. Slawin. “The availability of the new Avance® nerve graft allows us to perform the procedure without removing from the patient the autologous sural nerve that is associated with loss of sensation and occasional pain at the donor site. Ease of handling and the superior length of the Avance® nerve graft has made it the preferred graft material for our doctors performing cavernosal nerve graft reconstruction in men undergoing prostatectomy for locally advanced disease.”
“At the Vanguard Urologic Institute, we’re constantly looking for new technologies to help us improve the care we provide,” says Dr. Shu. “The Avance® nerve graft has allowed us to capture the benefits of nerve grafting for select patients undergoing radical prostatectomy, while eliminating the potential side effects associated with the use of autologous sural nerves for the graft.”
MORE ABOUT AXOGEN AVANCE®
Avance® is allograft tissue for bridging nerve discontinuities. Avance® a decellularized and cleansed extracellular matrix from donated human peripheral nerve. The cleaning process preserves the inherent and relevant structural characteristics of the tissue. Avance® simply connects the proximal and distal ends of a transected nerve. Regenerating axons can grow through the allograft scaffold, into the patient’s distal nerve tissue toward the target muscle or skin.
Similar to nerve autografts, Avance® provides the surgeon with desired handling and structural characteristics: pliability of soft tissue, an intact epineurium to suture the graft in place, and intact endoneurial tubes for the axons to grow through. Avance® is supplied sterile in a variety of lengths and diameters.
REGULATORY CLASSIFICATION
Avance® is a human tissue for transplantation. It is processed and distributed in accordance with FDA for Human Cellular and Tissue-based Products (21 CFR Part 1271), State regulations and the guidelines of the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). This graft is to be dispensed only by, or on the order of, a licensed physician.
APPLICATIONS FOR USE
Avance® is allograft tissue for bridging peripheral nerve discontinuities.
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