title: Dissection of a single rat muscle-tendon complex changes joint moments exerted by neighboring muscles: implications for invasive surgical interventions.
abstract: The aim of this paper is to investigate mechanical functioning of a single skeletal muscle, active within a group of (previously) synergistic muscles. For this purpose, we assessed wrist angle-active moment characteristics exerted by a group of wrist flexion muscles in the rat for three conditions: (i) after resection of the upper arm skin; (ii) after subsequent distal tenotomy of flexor carpi ulnaris muscle (FCU); and (iii) after subsequent freeing of FCU distal tendon and muscle belly from surrounding tissues (MT dissection). Measurements were performed for a control group and for an experimental group after recovery (5 weeks) from tendon transfer of FCU to extensor carpi radialis (ECR) insertion. To assess if FCU tenotomy and MT dissection affects FCU contributions to wrist moments exclusively or also those of neighboring wrist flexion muscles, these data were compared to wrist angle-moment characteristics of selectively activated FCU. FCU tenotomy and MT dissection decreased wrist moments of the control group at all wrist angles tested, including also angles for which no or minimal wrist moments were measured when activating FCU exclusively. For the tendon transfer group, wrist flexion moment increased after FCU tenotomy, but to a greater extent than can be expected based on wrist extension moments exerted by selectively excited transferred FCU. We conclude that dissection of a single muscle in any surgical treatment does not only affect mechanical characteristics of the target muscle, but also those of other muscles within the same compartment. Our results demonstrate also that even after agonistic-to-antagonistic tendon transfer, mechanical interactions with previously synergistic muscles do remain present.
authors: MOVE Research Institute Amsterdam, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. h.maas@vu.nl
authors: Huub
authors: H
authors: Maas
authors: Guus C
authors: GC
authors: Baan
authors: Peter A
authors: PA
authors: Huijing
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D013709:Tendon Transfer; D013710:Tendons / Q000601:surgery*; D014955:Wrist Joint / Q000502:physiology*
references: Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2012 Feb;23(1):33-50, ix-x
references: 22239872
references: Dev Med Child Neurol. 1997 Feb;39(2):99-105
references: 9062424
references: J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2007 Dec;17(6):644-56
references: 17369052
references: Br Med Bull. 2009;90:85-109
references: 19395470
references: J Pediatr Rehabil Med. 2013;6(1):53-7
references: 23481892
references: J Appl Physiol Respir Environ Exerc Physiol. 1981 Aug;51(2):317-20
references: 7263438
references: J Exp Biol. 2005 Jan;208(Pt 1):129-40
references: 15601884
references: J Appl Physiol (1985). 2012 Feb;112(4):607-14
references: 22134696
references: Neurosci Lett. 1983 Nov 11;41(3):283-8
references: 6664618
references: J Neurosci. 2002 Jul 15;22(14):5808-12
references: 12122041
references: Q Rev Biol. 1945 Dec;20:311-69
references: 21010869
references: J Morphol. 2003 Jun;256(3):306-21
references: 12655613
references: J Biomech. 2004 Jan;37(1):99-110
references: 14672573
references: J Hand Surg Eur Vol. 2011 Feb;36(2):141-6
references: 20935023
references: Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2010 Jul;38(3):128-34
references: 20577061
references: Muscles Ligaments Tendons J. 2012 Apr 01;1(4):127-33
references: 23738260
references: J Appl Physiol (1985). 2008 Jun;104(6):1557-67
references: 18339889
references: J Biomech. 2009 Jan 5;42(1):9-21
references: 19041975
references: Dev Med Child Neurol. 1987 Apr;29(2):159-66
references: 3582786
references: J Hand Surg Am. 2000 Mar;25(2):214-35
references: 10722813
references: J Appl Physiol (1985). 2003 Mar;94(3):1092-107
references: 12571138
references: Spinal Cord. 2011 Aug;49(8):903-8
references: 21445079
references: Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2011 Aug;26(7):725-8
references: 21470727
references: J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2003 Aug;85(6):856-9
references: 12931805
references: J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2002 Dec;84(12):2203-10
references: 12473709
references: Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2003 Aug;84(8):1145-9
references: 12917852
references: Cells Tissues Organs. 2005;181(1):38-50
references: 16439817
references: J Appl Physiol (1985). 2009 Nov;107(5):1453-62
references: 19745195
references: J Biomech. 2008 Jul 19;41(10):2130-5
references: 18550068
references: J Biomech. 2010 Oct 19;43(14):2665-71
references: 20655048
references: J Biomed Biotechnol. 2010;2010:575672
references: 20396618
references: J Hand Surg Am. 2006 Sep;31(7):1105-10
references: 16945711
references: J Orthop Res. 2002 Jul;20(4):863-8
references: 12168679
references: J Hand Surg Am. 2010 Feb;35(2):284-90
references: 20022711
references: J Biomech. 2012 Jan 10;45(2):289-96
references: 22093795