Adductor magnus muscle

The adductor magnus is a large triangular muscle, situated on the medial side of the thigh.

The portion which arises from the ischiopubic ramus (a small part of the inferior ramus of the pubis, and the inferior ramus of the ischium) is called the "adductor portion", and the portion arising from the tuberosity of the ischium is called the "hamstring portion". The hamstring portion is not considered part of the hamstring group of muscles, but it is adjacent to it.

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Adductor part

Those fibers which arise from the ramus of the pubis are short, horizontal in direction, and are inserted into the rough line leading from the greater trochanter to the linea aspera, medial to the gluteus maximus.

Those fibers from the ramus of the ischium are directed downward and lateralward with different degrees of obliquity, to be inserted, by means of a broad aponeurosis, into the linea aspera and the upper part of its medial prolongation below.

Hamstring part

The medial portion of the muscle, composed principally of the fibers arising from the tuberosity of the ischium, forms a thick fleshy mass consisting of coarse bundles which descend almost vertically, and end about the lower third of the thigh in a rounded tendon which is inserted into the adductor tubercle on the medial condyle of the femur, and is connected by a fibrous expansion to the line leading upward from the tubercle to the linea aspera.

Osseoaponeurotic openings

At the insertion of the muscle, there is a series of osseoaponeurotic openings, formed by tendinous arches attached to the bone. The upper four openings are small, and give passage to the perforating branches of the profunda femoris artery. The lowest is of large size, and transmits the femoral vessels to the popliteal fossa.

Action

The function of the adductor magnus is to serve as a powerful extensor of the thigh, along with being able to flex and laterally rotate the thigh.

See also

• adductor hiatus

Additional images

References

1. ^ Mnemonic at medicalmnemonics.com 255

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.