Quadriceps muscle

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Quadriceps muscle
Image:Illu lower extremity muscles.jpg
Muscles of lower extremity. (Rectus femoris removed to reveal the vastus intermedius.)
Image:Gray432.png
Cross-section through the middle of the thigh. (Rectus femoris and Vastus intermedius labeled at upper right, and Vastus lateralis labeled at bottom left. Vastus medialis not on diagram.)
Latin	musculus quadriceps femoris
Gray's	subject #128
Origin:	combined rectus femoris and vastus muscles
Insertion:
Blood:
Nerve:
Action:
Dorlands/Elsevier	m_22/12550408

"Quads" redirects here. For other uses see Quad

The quadriceps femoris (quadriceps extensor, or quads) includes the four remaining muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the great extensor muscle of the leg, forming a large fleshy mass which covers the front and sides of the femur.

It is subdivided into separate portions, which have received distinctive names.

One occupying the middle of the thigh, and connected above with the ilium, is called from its straight course the rectus femoris.

The other three lie in immediate connection with the body of the femur, which they cover from the trochanters to the condyles:
- The portion on the lateral side of the femur is termed the vastus lateralis.
- The portion covering the medial side is termed the vastus medialis.
- The portion in front is termed the vastus intermedius.

[edit] Additional images

Front and medial aspect of right thigh.

Lateral aspect of right leg.

Anterior aspect of right leg.

[edit] External links

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.