Residual periosteum tension is insufficient to directly modulate bone growth.

Periosteal incision is one of the less severe interventions used to correct mild long bone growth pathologies. The mechanism responsible for this growth modulation is still unclear. A generally adopted hypothesis is that incision releases compressive force created by tensioned periosteum. We set out to evaluate the feasibility of this hypothesis by quantifying the stress level imposed on cartilage by periosteum tension in the rapid growth phase of chick embryos and evaluating if tension release could be responsible for modulating growth.