Compressive loading on bone surfaces from muscular contraction: an in vivo study in the miniature pig, Sus scrofa

Several authors have speculated that muscles contracting adjacent to bony surfaces may cause compressive loads against the bone and thus influence skull development. This study was undertaken to evaluate the premise of this argument. A flat, semiconductor pressure transducer was surgically placed on bony surfaces beneath muscle attachments. Pressures were recorded during normal mastication (n = 7) and while overlying muscles were stimulated in anesthetized pigs (n = 15). The transducer was highly specific; no pressure was recorded in quiescent or passively stretched muscles or when other muscles were stimulated. Contraction of the overlying muscles exerted high normal loads on the bone, always exceeding systolic blood pressure (16 kPa). Temporal fossa pressure during mastication followed temporalis electromyographic (EMG) signals with a lag period approximating the twitch contraction time. When three different sites were compared in anesthetized animals, compressive load was highest on the temporal fossa (111.4 +/- 56.5 kPa, n = 15), intermediate on the mandibular angle (58.4 +/- 28.3 kPa, n = 4), and lowest on the medial side of the zygomatic arch (37.2 +/- 19.7 kPa, n = 15). Pressure amplitudes were not related to body size or relative muscle size. Muscle complexity and compartmental constraints did appear to influence pressure. Disruption of the external aponeurosis of the masseter decreased pressure on the mandibular angle by 45%, confirming the importance of tendinous constraint in determining pressure production. Thus, contracting muscles exert substantial but site-specific compressive loads on adjacent bone surfaces.