Sw. Miller et al., FUNCTIONAL-EVALUATION AT THE MEDIAL GASTROCNEMIUS DONOR SITE IN RATS, Journal of reconstructive microsurgery, 12(3), 1996, pp. 143-147
The transfer of a skeletal muscle from a donor to a recipient site cre
ates an initial deficit in the structure and function of the muscle gr
oup from which it originates, Removal of the donor muscle induces hype
rtrophy of the remaining synergistic muscles, which compensate for par
t of the deficit at the donor site. The medial gastrocnemius (MGN) mus
cle is a frequently utilized donor muscle. Compared with the mass and
force production of the control four-muscle plantar flexor group in ra
ts, removal of the MGN muscle creates an initial deficit of similar to
36 percent. At 60, 90, and 120 days after removal of the MGN muscle,
the degree of compensation of the remaining three-muscle plantar flexo
r group (lateral gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris muscles) was eva
luated. The mass of the three-muscle group increased 13 percent over t
he time course studied, but was still 28 percent less than the mass of
the control four-muscle group. Similarly, the maximum force of the th
ree-muscle group increased 27 percent, but was 21 percent lower than t
he control four-muscle group. The authors propose a model that illustr
ates the function restored at a donor site in terms of the percentage
of the total muscle group comprised by the donor muscle and the abilit
y of the remaining muscle group to compensate for its removal.