Total and regional blood flows in vascularized skeletal muscle grafts in rabbits

The transplantation of whole skeletal muscles is a common clinical procedure. Although atypical blood flows have been reported in small free muscle grafts, the blood flow of large neurovascular-intact (NVI) and neurovascular-anastomosed (NVA) grafts have not been measured. Because the maximum specific force (N/cm2) of NVI and NVA grafts is 65% that of control muscles, we hypothesized that total and regional blood flows (ml.min-1.100g-1) of NVI and NVA grafts at rest and during twitch contractions are significantly lower than lower flows of control muscles. In rabbits, blood flows of control rectus femoris (RFM) muscles and NVI and NVA grafts of RFM muscles were measured by the radioactive-microsphere technique. In control muscles, blood flow increased linearly from 6.8 +/- 1 ml.min-1.100 g-1 at rest to 64.4 +/- 7 ml.min-1. 100 g-1 at a stimulation frequency of 3 Hz with no further increase at 4 Hz. Total blood flows in grafts were not different from the control RFM muscle values, except for a higher resting flow in NVA grafts and a lower flow at 3 Hz in NVI grafts. Minor variations in regional flows were observed. We conclude that the operative procedures of grafting and repair of blood vessels affect the vascular bed of muscles minimally, and the deficits observed in grafts do not arise from inadequate perfusion.