Canine anterior tibial muscle at the stages of postnatal and distraction morphogenesis

The anterior tibial muscle was studied experimentally in 49 mongrel adult dogs subjected to transosseous distraction osteosynthesis of the leg by the rate of 1.0 mm per day with different divisions, and the group of three intact animals served as control. The comparison was made with the group of intact puppies in the early postnatal period. The methods of histochemistry, morpho- and stereometry, electromyography, those of information and statistical analysis were used. The histological parallels have been determined for the quantitative characteristics of the processes of natural growth in the early postnatal period and those of graduated tension-induced growth in the period of distraction. The obvious advantage of high-divisional 24-hour autodistraction has been demonstrated.