quadriceps femoris (anatomy)

Last reviewed 01/2018

• quadriceps femoris
  • a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh
  • the great extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large fleshy mass which covers the front and sides of the femur
    • subdivided into four separate portions or 'heads', which have received distinctive names:
      • rectus femoris occupies the middle of the thigh, covering most of the other three quadriceps muscles
        • originates on the ilium
      • other three muscles lie deep to rectus femoris and originate from the body of the femur, which they cover from the trochanters to the condyles:
        • vastus lateralis is on the lateral side of the femur
        • vastus medialis is on the medial side of the femur
        • vastus intermedius lies between vastus lateralis and vastus medialis on the front of the femur
      • all four muscles that form the quadriceps attach to the patella via the quadriceps tendon