Vastus intermedius muscle

Vastus intermedius muscle
Vastus intermedius muscle
Illu lower extremity muscles.jpg
Muscles of lower extremity
Gray's subject #128 471
Origin antero/ lateral femur
Insertion    patellar ligament
Artery femoral artery
Nerve femoral nerve
Actions extends leg

The Vastus intermedius (Cruraeus) arises from the front and lateral surfaces of the body of the femur in its upper two-thirds, sitting under Rectus Femoris and from the lower part of the lateral intermuscular septum. Its fibers end in a superficial aponeurosis, which forms the deep part of the Quadriceps femoris tendon.

The Vastus medialis and Vastus intermedius appear to be inseparably united, but when the Rectus femoris has been reflected[when defined as?] a narrow interval will be observed extending upward from the medial border of the patella between the two muscles, and the separation may be continued as far as the lower part of the intertrochanteric line, where, however, the two muscles are frequently continuous.

Due to being the deeper middle-most of the quadriceps muscle group, the intermedius is the most difficult to stretch once maximum knee flexion is attained. It cannot be further stretched by hip extension as the rectus femoris can, nor is it accessible to manipulate with massage therapy to stretch the fibres sideways as the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis are.

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This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • vastus intermedius — vastus in·ter·me·di·us .in tər mēd ē əs n the division of the quadriceps muscle that arises from and covers the front of the shaft of the femur …   Medical dictionary

  • vastus intermedius — ˌsintərˈmēdēəs noun Etymology: New Latin, literally, great intermediate (muscle) : the division of the quadriceps muscle that arises from and covers the front of the shaft of the femur …   Useful english dictionary

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  • vastus medialis — vastus me·di·a·lis .mēd ē ā ləs, al əs n the division of the quadriceps muscle that covers the inner anterior aspect of the femur, arises chiefly from the femur and the adjacent intermuscular septum, inserts into the inner border of the patella… …   Medical dictionary

  • Vastus medialis — Infobox Muscle Name=PAGENAME Latin= GraySubject=128 GrayPage=471 Caption=Vastus medialis Caption2=Muscles of lower extremity Origin=femur Insertion=patella Blood=femoral artery Nerve=femoral nerve Action=extends leg DorlandsPre= DorlandsSuf=|The… …   Wikipedia

  • vastus — Great. See v. intermedius (muscle), v. lateralis (muscle), v. medialis (muscle). [L.] * * * n. any of three muscles (vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis, and v …   Medical dictionary

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  • vastus medialis — ˌsmēdēˈalə̇s, ˈāl , ˈäl noun Etymology: New Latin, literally, great medial (muscle) : a division of the quadriceps muscle covering the inner anterior aspect of the femur, arising chiefly from that bone and the adjacent intermuscular septum,… …   Useful english dictionary

  • vastus — n. any of three muscles (vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis) that form part of the quadriceps muscle of the thigh …   The new mediacal dictionary

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