The effect of muscle excursion on muscle recovery after tendon repair in a neglected tendon injury: a study in rabbit soleus muscles.
We attempted to determine whether muscle excursion observed during operation can be a prognostic indicator of muscle recovery after delayed tendon repair in a rabbit soleus model. Eighteen rabbits underwent tenotomy of the soleus muscles bilaterally and were divided into three groups according to the period from tenotomy to repair. The tendons of each group were repaired 2, 4, and 6 weeks after tenotomy. The excursion of each soleus muscle was measured at the time of tenotomy (baseline), at 2, 4, 6 weeks after tenotomy, and 8 weeks after tendon repair. The amount of muscle recovery after tendon repair in terms of muscle excursion independently depended on the timing of repair and on the muscle excursion observed during repair. The regression model predicted that the muscle excursion recovered on average by 0.6% as the muscle excursion at the time of repair increased by 1% after adjusting for the timing of repair. This study suggests that measuring the muscle excursion during tendon repair may help physicians estimate the potential of muscle recovery in cases of delayed tendon repair.
Jeon
Suk Ha
SH
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 300 Gumi-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 463-707, Korea. hsgong@snu.ac.kr
Chung
Moon Sang
MS
Baek
Goo Hyun
GH
Lee
Young Ho
YH
Gong
Hyun Sik
HS
D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011817:Rabbits; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*