{"id":3975,"date":"2021-01-19T13:28:25","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T12:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/lower-limb\/thigh\/thigh-muscles\/anterior-compartment\/"},"modified":"2021-01-27T21:47:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T20:47:37","slug":"anterior-compartment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/lower-limb\/thigh\/thigh-muscles\/anterior-compartment\/","title":{"rendered":"Anterior compartment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div class=\"intro\">The anterior compartment of the thigh is also known as the extensor compartment, as the majority of the muscles work to extend the knee. It is the largest compartment, and all of the muscles are innervated by the femoral nerve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It consists of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" id=\"block-fac17e8e-d6e7-41ae-96dc-fa9aea943813\"><li>Sartorius<\/li><li>Pectineus<\/li><li>Iliopsoas<\/li><li>Quadriceps femoris<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1122_Gluteal_Muscles_that_Move_the_Femur_a1.png\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Anterior compartment\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1122_Gluteal_Muscles_that_Move_the_Femur_a1-556x600.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26854\"\/><\/a><figcaption><strong>Anterior view of the pelvis and leg&nbsp;<\/strong>(Credit: OpenStax, CC BY-SA 4.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_1\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Sartorius muscle<\/h4>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_1\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sartorius muscle is the longest muscle in the body, spanning between the pelvis and the leg, coursing superficially, obliquely from lateral to medial across the anterior aspect of the thigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Originates from the anterior superior iliac spine and descends medially, crossing towards the inner thigh.<\/li><li>It inserts on the medial side of the upper tibia.<\/li><li>It acts across two joints, which allows it to <strong>flex both the hip and the<\/strong> <strong>knee<\/strong>, as well as abduct and laterally rotate the thigh at the hip joint.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_2\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Pectineus muscle<\/h4>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_2\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pectineus is a flat, quadrangular muscle that attaches to the pectineal line of the pelvic bone and descends deep to the inguinal ligament to insert on the proximal aspect of the femur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It is a deep muscle in the anterior compartment of the thigh, forming part of the floor of the femoral triangle.<\/li><li>It acts to <strong>abduct and flex the thigh at the hip joint<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_3\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Iliopsoas muscle<\/h4>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_3\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iliopsoas arises from the posterior abdominal wall as two separate muscles, the <strong>iliacus <\/strong>and <strong>psoas major muscles<\/strong>, forming a single muscle under the name iliopsoas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The iliacus muscle originates from the iliac fossa and iliac crest, as well as the iliosacral ligament and the ala of the sacrum.<\/li><li>The psoas major muscle originates from the transverse processes of vertebrae T12-L5 and the IV discs between them.<\/li><li>The iliacus muscle joins and inserts onto the psoas major tendon <\/li><li>Both muscles together, known as the iliopsoas, insert onto the lesser trochanter of the femur.<\/li><li>The iliopsoas is the most powerful of the <strong>hip flexor<\/strong> muscles, it also serves to <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_4\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Quadriceps femoris<\/h4>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_4\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The quadriceps (meaning \u201cfour-headed\u201d in Latin) is a muscle group formed by four muscles that constitute the majority of the muscle mass of the anterior thigh:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Vastus Medialis<\/strong> descends along the anteromedial aspect of femoral shaft is the vastus medialis.<\/li><li><strong>Vastus Lateralis<\/strong> is the largest of the quadricep femoris group, found on the anterolateral side of the thigh.<\/li><li><strong>Vastus Intermedius<\/strong> lies between the vastus medialis and lateralis muscles. The vastus muscles act to extend the knee but also aid in the stabilization of the patella as they insert into its margin.<\/li><li><strong>Rectus femoris <\/strong>has both a <strong>straight head <\/strong>and a <strong>reflected head<\/strong>, which originate at the pelvis. Both heads converge to run superficial to the vastus intermedius and insert into the common quadricep femoris tendon. Along with the other three quadriceps muscles, rectus femoris acts extend the knee but it also contributes to the flexion of the thigh at the hip joint.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, two tiny muscles known as the <strong>articularis genus<\/strong> and the <strong>tenosr vastus intermedius <\/strong>are embedded within the quadriceps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Articularis genus<\/strong> is a small muscle that is found inferior to the vastus intermedius. Its function is to superiorly pull the synovial membrane and the bursa of the knee joint during knee extension.<\/li><li><strong>Tensor vastus intermedius<\/strong> is a recently discovered muscle found between the vastus lateralis and vastus intermedius muscles. It functions similarly to the <strong>tensor fascia lata<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The quadriceps muscles converge to form a large quadriceps femoris tendon which continues as the patellar ligament and inserts onto the tibial tuberosity. It is one of the most powerful thigh muscles.<\/p>\n<\/span><div id=\"the_titles\" style=\"display:none;\"><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sartorius muscle<\/h4><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pectineus muscle<\/h4><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Iliopsoas muscle<\/h4><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quadriceps femoris<\/h4><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sartorius muscle The sartorius muscle is the longest muscle in the body, spanning between the pelvis and the leg, coursing superficially, obliquely from lateral to medial across the anterior aspect of the thigh. Originates from the anterior superior iliac spine and descends medially, crossing towards the inner thigh. It inserts on the medial side of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3970,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3975","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Anterior compartment &#8211; Meddists<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/lower-limb\/thigh\/thigh-muscles\/anterior-compartment\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meddists.com\\\/learn\\\/pre-clinical\\\/anatomy\\\/lower-limb\\\/thigh\\\/thigh-muscles\\\/anterior-compartment\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meddists.com\\\/learn\\\/pre-clinical\\\/anatomy\\\/lower-limb\\\/thigh\\\/thigh-muscles\\\/anterior-compartment\\\/\",\"name\":\"Anterior compartment &#8211; 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