Alveal-Mellado, D.; Sousa-Rodrigues, C. F. & Olave, E.

The quadriceps femoris muscle is a muscle that participates mainly in the movements of the knee and also in the hip, being able to be affected by alterations in muscle trophism, after injuries of these joints or muscular tone conditions, such as spasticity, after injuries cerebrovascular. Each of its heads is innervated by branches of the femoral nerve. The objective of this study was to identify and measure the distance of the motor points (MP) of the quadriceps femoris muscle, in relation to anatomical structures of clinical relevance. Thirty lower limbs of 23 formolized corpses of adult Brazilian individuals were used. The study was conducted at the State University of Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas (UNCISAL), Maceió, Brazil. The dissection was performed by planes in the medial, anterior and lateral thigh, identifying the femoral nerve branches for each component, rectus femoris muscles (Rfm), medial vastus (mVm), vastus intermedius (intVm) and vastus lateralis ( latVm), locating each of the MP. The measurements were made with a Mitutoyo caliper of 0.05 mm accuracy. The data obtained were treated statistically, using the STATA software (version 14.1). The Rfm had an average of 2.45 ± 1.39 MP, the great majority of the MP (63 %) being in the distal area of the proximal third of the thigh; the mVm presented 4.42 ± 2.74 MP on average, with 41 % of them in the middle third of the thigh, distal zone; the intVm had 3.99 + 2.34 MP on average and 58 % of them were located in the proximal area of the middle third of the thigh; the latVm presented an average of 3.88 ± 2.37 MP and 50 % of these were found in the proximal third of the thigh. The biometric localization of the MP is reported in results. The biometric location of the MP, will favor the task, both clinical and surgical of the anterior thigh area.

KEY WORDS: Anatomy; Femoral quadriceps muscle; Innervation; Motor points.

ALVEAL-MELLADO, D. ; SOUSA-RODRIGUES, C. F. & OLAVE, E. Biometric localization of the motor points of the femoral quadriceps muscle of brazilian individuals. Int. J. Morphol., 37(4):1498-1503, 2019