Reviewing morphology of Quadriceps femoris muscle

Abstract Purpose: Quadriceps is composite muscle of four portions rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis and vatus lateralis. It is inserted into patella through common tendon with three layered arrangement rectus femoris superficially, vastus lateralis and vatus medialis in the intermediate layer and vatus intermedius deep to it. Most literatures do not take into account its complex and variable morphology while describing the extensor mechanism of knee, and wide functional role it plays in stability of knee joint. It has been widely studied clinically, mainly individually in foreign context, but little attempt has been made to look into morphology of quadriceps group. The diverse functional aspect of quadriceps group, and the gap in the literature on morphological aspect particularly in our region what prompted us to review detail morphology of this group. Method: Study consisted dissection of 40 lower limbs (20 rights and 20 left) from 20 embalmed cadavers from Department of Anatomy Rural Medical College, PIMS Loni, Ahmednagar (M) India. Results: Rectus femoris was a separate entity in all the cases. Vastus medialis as well as vastus lateralis found to have two parts, as oblique and longus. Quadriceps group had variability in fusion between members of the group. The extent of fusion also varied greatly. The laminar arrangement of Quadriceps group found as bilaminar or trilaminar. The insertion level of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis on patella varied greatly. Vastus lateralis found to extent to whole extent of lateral border of patella. The extension of fibrous band like structure from lower horizontal fibers of vastus medialis to adductor tubercle also noticed in one case. Conclusion: There is wide variability in the quadriceps group of muscles that we came across, then believed. This variability in the quadriceps group might affect the stability of the knee joint but needs, to prove clinically. The inding may also help in the understanding the factors associated with anterior knee pain and its management.