Procedures for obtaining muscle physiology parameters during a gracilis free-functioning muscle transfer in adult patients with brachial plexus injury

Abstract

A complete understanding of muscle mechanics allows for the creation of models that closely mimic human muscle function so they can be used to study human locomotion and evaluate surgical intervention. This includes knowledge of muscle–tendon parameters required for accurate prediction of muscle forces. However, few studies report experimental data obtained directly from whole human muscle due to the invasive nature of these experiments. This article presents an intraoperative, in vivo measurement protocol for whole muscle–tendon parameters that include muscle–tendon unit length, sarcomere length, passive tension, and active tension in response to external stimulation. The advantage of this protocol is the ability to obtain these rare experimental data in situ in addition to muscle volume and weight since the gracilis is also completely removed from the leg. The entire protocol including the surgical steps for gracilis harvest takes ~ 3 h. Actual testing of the gracilis where experimental data is measured takes place within a 30-min window during surgery.