Research advances in reconstruction of facial nerve defects using decellularized nerve graft

Facial nerve injury is a common peripheral nerve injury, and the reconstruction of facial nerve defect is an outstanding issue. As an emerging nerve repair material, decellularized nerve grafts have been applied in the study of facial nerve repair and made a series of progress. The basal membrane and extracellular matrix retained by decellularized nerve can not only provide support, but also recruit cells and induce cell differentiation. The improvement of decellularization techniques allow nerve grafts to have better bioactivity and histocompatibility. In this review, we provide an overview of decellularization techniques and the utilization of decellularized nerve in facial nerve repair, in order to provide reference for future research.