muscle Anatomy the gastrocnemius muscle
is a part of the superficial flexors of
the leg
official flexor muscles in the leg the
gastrocnemius the soleus and plantaris
the gastrocnemius muscle arises from the
femur and it crosses the knee joint and
the ankle joint the gastrocnemius muscle
has two heads medial and lateral head
origin there are two heads the lateral
head arises from the lateral surface of
the lateral femoral condyle a medial
head of the gastrocnemius comes from the
posterior surface of the femur above the
medial femoral condyle the medial head
is larger and extends lower than the
lateral head of the gastrocnemius
two heads of the gastrocnemius muscle
unite together near the middle of the
leg the two heads are separated by a
ferrule in which the shura nerve and the
small saphenous vein are present
the two bellies of the gastrocnemius end
in a tendon which joins the tendon of
the soleus to form together the Tendo
Achilles or the tendo calcaneus which
inserts into the middle third of the
posterior surface of the calcaneus
innovation the gastrocnemius muscle is
innervated by the tibial nerve s1 s2 and
each head of the muscle has its own
branch the tibial nerve passes behind
the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles
through the fibrous arch of the soleus
blood supply each head of the
gastrocnemius muscle is supplied by the
shorter branch of the popliteal artery
function together with the soleus the
gastrocnemius muscle is a powerful
plantar flexor of the ankle
because the gas with nameless muscle
crosses the knee joint
it also flexes the knee
muscle is involved in running and
jumping it is a fast movement muscle
it contains white type to fast twitch
muscle fibers in contrast to the soleus
which contains type 1 is slow twitch
muscle fibers
what is the clinical significance of the
gastrocnemius muscle
the flexor muscle group has two
compartments the superficial and the
deep the gas with genious muscle is part
of the superficial flexor compartment of
the leg
here is a cross-section showing the four
compartments of the leg
and this is the fasciotomy incisions for
the two incision technique it opens all
the four compartments including the
superficial flesh or group
the gastrocnemius muscle is part of the
boundaries of the popliteal fossa the
popliteal fossa is bounded by the biceps
femoris
Sapir ly and laterally as well the
semitendinosus and membranous Sapir ly
and medially in the lower part of the
popliteal fossa their space is formed by
the two heads of the gastrocnemius
muscle
bertha baker says baker says lies
between the semimembranosus and the
medial head of the gastrocnemius as you
can see in the cross-section
baker's cyst is commonly caused by knee
arthritis or meniscal tear the cyst is
connected to the knee joint through a
valve ler opening
knee effusion from the intra-articular
pathology allows the flow to go through
the valve to the cyst in one direction
another clinical situation in the
approach to the postural medial fragment
of the tibial plateau
you approach this posteromedial fracture
fragment of the tibial plateau through
an incision between the medial
gastrocnemius and the semimembranosus
and this fragment has its own fixation
an anti glide plate to buttress this
fragment
yes igneous tightness improved ankle
dorsiflexion with knee flexion means
gastrocnemius tightness or contracture
and when you have the same ankle
dorsiflexion with any inflection or an
extension that means achilles tightness
in gaseous tightness or contracture
the treatment is gastrocnemius recession
which can be helpful in diabetic foot
ulcers
Media gastrocnemius rotation flap can be
used for proximal tibial open fractures
and large soft tissue defects around the
knee
in supracondylar fractures of the femur
the gastrocnemius muscle extend the
distal fragment the a is
posteriorly the hamstrings and extensor
muscles cause shortening of the femur
adductor Magnus causes varus of the
distal fragment
thank you very much I hope that was
helpful
you