dots-menu
×

Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 481

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 481

  The Extensor hallucis longus (Extensor proprius hallucis) is a thin muscle, situated between the Tibialis anterior and the Extensor digitorum longus. It arises from the anterior surface of the fibula for about the middle two-fourths of its extent, medial to the origin of the Extensor digitorum longus; it also arises from the interosseous membrane to a similar extent. The anterior tibial vessels and deep peroneal nerve lie between it and the Tibialis anterior. The fibers pass downward, and end in a tendon, which occupies the anterior border of the muscle, passes through a distinct compartment in the cruciate crural ligament, crosses from the lateral to the medial side of the anterior tibial vessels near the bend of the ankle, and is inserted into the base of the distal phalanx of the great toe. Opposite the metatarsophalangeal articulation, the tendon gives off a thin prolongation on either side, to cover the surface of the joint. An expansion from the medial side of the tendon is usually inserted into the base of the proximal phalanx.

Variations.—Occasionally united at its origin with the Extensor digitorum longus. Extensor ossis metatarsi hallucis, a small muscle, sometimes found as a slip from the Extensor hallucis longus, or from the Tibialis anterior, or from the Extensor digitorum longus, or as a distinct muscle; it traverses the same compartment of the transverse ligament with the Extensor hallucis longus.


FIG. 437– Muscles of the front of the leg. (See enlarged image)
  The Extensor digitorum longus is a penniform muscle, situated at the lateral part of the front of the leg. It arises from the lateral condyle of the tibia; from the upper three-fourths of the anterior surface of the body of the fibula; from the upper part of the interosseous membrane; from the deep surface of the fascia; and from the intermuscular septa between it and the Tibialis anterior on the medial, and the Peronæi on the lateral side. Between it and the Tibialis anterior are the upper portions of the anterior tibial vessels and deep peroneal nerve. The tendon passes under the transverse and cruciate crural ligaments in company with the Peronæus tertius, and divides into four slips, which run forward on the dorsum of the foot, and are inserted into the second and third phalanges of the four lesser toes. The tendons to the second, third, and fourth toes are each joined, opposite the metatarsophalangeal articulation, on the lateral side by a tendon of the Extensor digitorum brevis. The tendons are inserted in the following manner: each receives a fibrous expansion from the Interossei and Lumbricalis, and then spreads out into a broad aponeurosis, which covers the dorsal surface of the