Comparative study of electric excitability and metabolism in the assessment of vitality of the ischemized muscles of the amputated limb before replantation

: The authors have studied the dynamic changes of metabolic processes and the functional and the structural preservation of the muscles under the influence of heat ischemia (18-21 degrees C) on 29 amputated posterior extremities of 21 adult dogs of the both sexes. It has been shown that direct muscle excitability disappears 5 hours after the influence of heat ischemia, although after 6 hours of observation the values of the metabolic processes in the muscles made 35-40% of the basic level. The character of the changes in the muscle excitability gives an idea of the duration of action of heat ischemia and the preservation of vitality of the amputated extremity only up to the moment of its complete disappearance. The final irreversible ultrastructural lesions of the overwhelming majority of the myocytes appear during the period of 6 to 8 hours of action of heat ischemia.