Gracilis muscle
Musculus gracilis
- Related terms: Gracilis
Definition
Origin: Ischiopubic ramus
Insertion: Tibia (pes anserinus)
Artery: Medial femoral circumflex artery
Nerve: Anterior branch of obturator nerve
Action: Flexes hip, knee
Description:
The Gracilis is the most superficial muscle on the medial side of the thigh. It is thin and flattened, broad above, narrow and tapering below. It arises by a thin aponeurosis from the anterior margins of the lower half of the symphysis pubis and the upper half of the pubic arch. The fibers run vertically downward, and end in a rounded tendon, which passes behind the medial condyle of the femur, curves around the medial condyle of the tibia, where it becomes flattened, and is inserted into the upper part of the medial surface of the body of the tibia, below the condyle. A few of the fibers of the lower part of the tendon are prolonged into the deep fascia of the leg. At its insertion the tendon is situated immediately above that of the Semitendinosus, and its upper edge is overlapped by the tendon of the Sartorius, with which it is in part blended. It is separated from the tibial collateral ligament of the knee-joint, by a bursa common to it and the tendon of the Semitendinosus.
