Muscle sense, or nonsense?

Ann Plast Surg. 1991 May;26(5):444-8. doi: 10.1097/00000637-199105000-00006.

Abstract

The hypothesis presented is that a muscle, transferred to a new area for purposes of recontouring or soft-tissue coverage, may be used also to provide sensibility. I hypothesize that the muscle's sensory end-organs, the muscle spindles, can be reinnervated by regenerating sensory afferent fibers from an adjacent cutaneous nerve. The muscle spindle's neural impulses, which normally pass to a subconscious level, would instead pass to the postcentral gyrus and reach conscious perception. A mechanism exists, therefore, by adding a sural or calcaneal nerve repair to the motor nerve of a muscle flap, transferred, for example, to the foot, to restore sensibility through microneurovascular transfer of a classic motor end-organ.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Muscles / innervation*
  • Muscles / transplantation*
  • Nerve Regeneration
  • Neurons, Afferent / physiology
  • Surgical Flaps*