Recovery of muscle transfers replacing the total plantar flexor muscle group in rats

In rats, combinations of plantar flexor muscles representing approximately 20, 40, 60, and 80% of the mass of the total plantar flexor group were transferred orthotopically in the absence of synergistic muscles and allowed to recover for 120 days. We hypothesized that, compared with their individual control values for structural and functional variables, the transfers would display a hierarchical array of deficits, proportional to their initial mass and, consequently, inversely proportional to the relative load on the transfers. Surprisingly, compared with their individual control values, each muscle transfer displayed deficits of 30-40% in muscle mass, total fiber cross-sectional area, and maximum isometric force, with the exception of the smallest transfer, the plantaris (PLN) muscle, which recovered 100% of its control value for each of these variables. Therefore, except for the PLN transfer, the muscle transfers studied displayed deficits similar in magnitude to those reported for muscles transferred in the presence of synergistic muscles. The greater recovery of the PLN transfer was attributed to the relatively large requirement for force production imposed on this transfer due to the average force requirements of the total plantar flexor group.