Mechanoreceptors and reflex arc in the feline shoulder.

A reflex arc from the glenohumeral capsule to the biceps, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, and subscapular muscles was shown in a feline preparation. Branches of the suprascapular and subscapular nerves terminating in the capsule were identified and then stimulated with a 100 microseconds supramaximal pulse at 10 pulses per second. Stimulation of the suprascapular articular nerve elicited electromyographic discharge in the biceps and infraspinatus muscles, whereas stimulation of the subscapular articular nerve elicited electromyographic discharge in the biceps, subscapularis, infraspinatus, and supraspinatus muscles. When the articular nerves were transected between their emergence from the main nerve trunk and the stimulation electrodes, the electromyographic discharge was abolished confirming the afferent nature of the nerves. The mean time delay ( +/- SD) from application of the stimulus to the peak of the recorded electromyographic activity was 3.2 +/- 0.27 msec. Anatomic dissection and staining of the capsule segments where the articular nerves terminated revealed mechanoreceptors consisting primarily of free nerve endings and Golgi tendon organs, Ruffini's endings, and pacinian corpuscles. The existence of a ligamento-muscular reflex arc in the glenohumeral joint extends the concept of passive and active restraints of a joint by virtue of the synergy between ligaments and muscles. That such a reflex exists may advocate modification of surgical repairs of the capsule, leading to preservation of as many neurologic structures as possible; it may also form the foundation for new postsurgical therapeutic modalities.