Heterotopic free skeletal muscle autotransplantation with utilization of a long nerve graft and microsurgical techniques: a study in the primate.

In six monkeys the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle was transplanted to the dorsum of the forearm after removal of the extensor muscles to the fingers. Microsurgical techniques were used to anastomose the artery and vein of the transplant to vessels in the forearm, and a 12 cm sural nerve graft was used to connect the thoracodorsal nerve in the axilla with the nerve of the transplanted muscle. There was evidence of function in this nerve graft in five of the six animals. Recovery in the transplanted muscles was evaluated by comparisons of muscle weight, electrophysiological measurements of contraction, and histological examination.