Evaluation of strategic nerve section in myocutaneous flaps.

Manipulation of the muscle blood supply by denervation was undertaken to see if it affected the amount of the myocutaneous unit that survived. Nineteen dogs were studied, using the gracilis muscle as a model. The gracilis muscle was denervated on one side, with the other, innervated muscle serving as a control. No difference was noted in how much of the myocutaneous unit survived. It was concluded that denervating a myocutaneous unit does not increase survival.