EFFECT OF POSTOPERATIVE TREATMENT WITH A COMBINATION OF CHUANGXIONG AND ELECTRET ON FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF MUSCLE CRAFTS - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY IN THE DOG

Clinical experiences have shown that simultaneous use of constitutiona l and local treatments postoperatively may increase recovery of transp lanted muscle function more than any single treatment. In the present experiment, 27 adult dogs had orthotopic replantation of their bilater al rectus femoris muscles by microneurovascular anastomoses with diffe rent therapeutic methods postoperatively for 22 weeks grouped as local implantation of an electret substance (n = 14), intramuscular injecti on of chuangxiong (Ligusticum wallichii franch) (n = 12), combined use of these two treatments (n = 14), or central (n = 14) to evaluate the influence of these different treatments on muscle function and morpho logy; electromyography, maximal tetanic tension, and histologic and hi stochemical examinations showed that the results in all the treatment groups were superior to those in the nontreatment group and that simul taneous use of constitutional and local treatments was superior to any single treatment. At week 22, the maximal tetanic tension of the thre e treatment groups returned to 57.68 +/- 1.67, 53.64 +/- 3.28, and 64. 94 +/- 3.28 percent of control values (before transplantation), respec tively, versus 47.99 +/- 2.21 percent in the nontreatment group. These results suggest that treatment with local electret and systemic chuan gxiong simultaneously has a favorable effect on nerve regeneration and on muscle function after muscle transplantation.