Since the free vascularized muscle flap was experimentally introduced by Tamai in 1970. it has become a useful clinical procedure in the field of reconstructive surgery. It provides functioning skeletal muscle in an area where it is absent.
However,
clinical applications have far preceeded critical experimental documentation of the functional capabilities of replanted muscle, and the investigations of the recovery process of transferred muscle has yield equivocal results.
So, this study was designed to investigate the volumetric and histologic change of the
vascularized muscle flap and effect of denervation.
In 120 rats, vascularized gastrocnemius muscle flap was elevated and resutured to the original defect. In group 1. sciatic nerve was cut and reapproximated with nerve suture. In group 2. flap was elevated. but nerve was left untouched, In group
3.
flap
elevation and verve severence without reapproximation was done to produce denervated flap. In group 4. only nerve transection and reapproximation was done.
After 1. 4 and 8 weeks. weight of gastrocnemius muscle flap and the diameter of the muscle fiber was measured and histologic change was observed.
@ES The results are as followings:
@En 1. After 8 weeks, the weight of muscle is 68±8.4% of normal contralateral muscle in group 1. 72±4.0% in group 2. 32±2.8% in group 3 and 93±8.9% in group 4. There was no statistical difference between group 1 and group 2(p>0.05).
2. The mean and the median of the diameter of the muscle fiber was 20.73 m and 21 m in normal. 13.98 m and 17 m in group 1 after 8 weeks 14.42 and 14 in group 2. 8.15
and 8 in group 3. and 16.65 and 17 in group 4. The diameter of muscle fiber seemed to
be decreased after denervation and increased after reinnervation.
3. In histologic examinations, there was only atrophic change in most of the sample. The central location of nucleus. fragmentation. hyaline degeneration and replacement with connective tissue were confined to the periphery of the flap.
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