Anatomical Study of Intramuscular Arterial Patterns in Rabbits

Abstract

D Yang, SF Morris. Anatomical study of intramuscular arterial patterns in rabbits. Can J Plast Surg 1998;6(4):183-189.

In order to identify intramuscular arterial patterns in the rabbit and select suitable muscles for experimental models of muscle transfer, 25 animals were injected with a lead oxide, gelatin and water mixture (200 mL/kg). Twenty individual muscles from each rabbit were dissected. The length and size of the dominant vascular pedicle to each muscle were measured, and the location of the neurovascular hila was recorded. A total of 1000 muscles were radiographed and analyzed. The main patterns of the muscle arterial supply, based on the number of vascular territories, were described. Four main patterns of intramuscular vasculature were identified in these 20 muscles. This study provides detailed anatomical data of the intramuscular vasculature in the rabbit that allow an accurate anatomical delineation of rabbit muscle flap models and indicates that the rabbit muscle is an appropriate experimental model for various surgical research studies.