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Vastus lateralis muscle

Human muscle in the thigh

Field	Value
Name	Vastus lateralis muscle
Latin	musculus vastus lateralis or musculus vastus externus
Image	Illu lower extremity muscles.jpg
Caption	Muscles of lower extremity (rectus femoris has been removed)
Image2	Vastus lateralis2.png
Caption2	Vastus lateralis
Origin	Greater trochanter, intertrochanteric line, and linea aspera of the femur
Insertion	Patella by the quadriceps tendon and tibial tuberosity by the patellar ligament
Blood	Lateral circumflex femoral artery
Nerve	Femoral nerve
Action	Extends and stabilizes knee
Antagonist	Hamstring

The vastus lateralis (), also called the vastus externus, is the largest and most powerful part of the quadriceps femoris, a muscle in the thigh. Together with other muscles of the quadriceps group, it serves to extend the knee joint, moving the lower leg forward. It arises from a series of flat, broad tendons attached to the femur, and attaches to the outer border of the patella. It ultimately joins with the other muscles that make up the quadriceps in the quadriceps tendon, which travels over the knee to connect to the tibia. The vastus lateralis is the recommended site for intramuscular injection in infants less than 7 months old and those unable to walk, with loss of muscular tone.

Structure

The vastus lateralis muscle arises from several areas of the femur, including the upper part of the intertrochanteric line; the lower, anterior borders of the greater trochanter, to the outer border of the gluteal tuberosity, and the upper half of the outer border of the linea aspera. These form an aponeurosis, a broad flat tendon that covers the upper three-quarters of the muscle. From the inner surface of the aponeurosis, many muscle fibers originate. Some additional fibers arise from the tendon of the gluteus maximus muscle, and from the septum between the vastus lateralis and short head of the biceps femoris.

The fibers form a large fleshy mass, attached to a second strong aponeurosis, placed on the deep surface of the lower part of the muscle. This lower aponeurosis becomes contracted and thickened into a flat tendon that attaches to the outer border of the patella, and subsequently joins with the quadriceps femoris tendon, expanding the capsule of the knee-joint.

Innervation

The vastus lateralis muscle is innervated by the muscular branches of the femoral nerve (L2, L3, and L4).

Additional images

File:Slide8www.JPG|Vastus lateralis muscle File:Im-vastus-lateralis.png|Site for intramuscular injection into the vastus lateralis

References

de Lima, J. A. Pires. (1913). "On a Bone found in the Musculus Vastus Externus of the Thigh". Journal of Anatomy and Physiology.
Mann, E. (2016). ''Injection (Intramuscular): Clinician Information.'' The Johanna Briggs Institute.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

knee-extensors muscles-of-the-quadriceps anterior-compartment-of-thigh muscles-of-the-lower-limb

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