THE EFFECTS OF SURGICAL APONEUROTOMY ARE NOT UNIQUE BUT MECHANICAL CONDITIONDEPENDENTDUETOMYOFASCIAL FORCE TRANSMISSION

INTRODUCTION In surgical aponeurotomy the intramuscular aponeurosis is cut transversely to correct movement disorders due to spastic contractures: greater length range and reduced force is aimed at. Although the name of the intervention suggests interference with myotendinous force transmission exclusively, it also causes a discontinuity in the collagen reinforced extracellular matrix (cECM) [1], i.e. it interferes just as well with myofascial force transmission [2]. We hypothesized that (a) the mechanism of aponeurotomy is dominated by myofascial force transmission and (b) that, due to extramuscular myofascial force transmission [e.g. 3] effects of aponeurotomy may not be unique, but dependent on other conditions. The aim was to test these hypotheses.