The muscle spindles in the EDL muscle were observed in the two studied groups and were found to have a normal organizational pattern, that is, smaller and thinner intrafusal fibers, surrounded by a connective tissue capsule (Figs.
In the CP group, the muscle spindle area and the mean cross-sectional area of the intrafusal fibers were 26 % smaller when compared to the CTL group (Figs.
Regarding the muscle spindles, the absence of weight discharge is known to be able to reduce the cross-section area of the intrafusal fibers, decrease the diameter of the equatorial region and fragment the nerve endings (Zhu et al., 2008).