Digastric muscle
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Jeremy Jones had no recorded disclosures.
View Jeremy Jones's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Frank Gaillard had the following disclosures:
- Biogen Australia Pty Ltd, Investigator-Initiated Research Grant for CAD software in multiple sclerosis: finished Oct 2021 (past)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures- Digastric
- Digastric muscles
The digastric muscle is composed of two bellies, anterior and posterior, connected by an intermediate round tendon that slides under a fibrous sheath attached to the greater horn of the hyoid bone. Both bellies are located superficially within the neck, deep to platysma, with the posterior belly passing deep to the sternocleidomastoid muscle at its insertion on the mastoid process.
The two bellies of the muscle have different embryonic origins and hence are supplied by different cranial nerves.
Summary
-
origin
anterior belly: digastric fossa on the deep surface of symphysis menti of the mandible
posterior belly: mastoid process of temporal bone
insertion: hyoid bone via intermediate tendon (see deep cervical fascia)
-
arterial supply
anterior belly: submental branch of the facial artery
posterior belly: occipital artery
-
nerve supply
anterior belly: mylohyoid nerve, a branch of the posterior division of the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (CN V)
posterior belly: unnamed branch of the facial nerve (CN VII) which arises between the stylomastoid foramen and the parotid gland
actions: opens the jaw when masseter and temporalis are relaxed
References
- 1. Susan Standring PhD DSc Gray's Anatomy. Churchill Livingstone. (2011) ISBN:0443066841. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 2. Schumacher U. Thieme Atlas of Anatomy. Thieme Georg Verlag. (2006) ISBN:3131421118. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 3. Last's anatomy, regional and applied. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN:044304662X. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 4. Robert H. Whitaker, Neil R. Borley. Instant Anatomy. ISBN: 9780632054039
Incoming Links
- Bezold abscess
- Mastoid part of temporal bone
- Submental triangle
- Muscles of mastication
- Motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve
- Submental artery
- Facial nucleus
- Jugulodigastric lymph nodes
- Branchial apparatus
- Carotid triangle
- Occipital artery
- Submandibular space
- Inferior alveolar nerve
- Lateral pterygoid muscle
- Parotid gland
- Posterior auricular artery
- Extrinsic muscles of the larynx
- Parotid space
- Suprahyoid muscles
- Lymph node levels of the neck
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