Extraocular muscles
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Jones J, Hacking C, Bell D, et al. Extraocular muscles. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 15 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-10415
rID:
10415
Article created:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Jeremy Jones had no recorded disclosures.
View Jeremy Jones's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:
- Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosures
Revisions:
20 times, by
12 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
Systems:
Sections:
Synonyms:
- Muscle cone
- Recti muscles
- Oblique muscles
- Extraocular muscle (EOM)
- Muscular cone
- Extraocular muscles (EOMs)
- Extraocular musculature
- Orbital muscle cone
- Muscle cones
The extraocular muscles (EOMs) are the six skeletal muscles that insert onto the eye and hence control eye movements.
On this page:
Terminology
The extraocular muscles maybe subdivided into the recti muscles and the oblique muscles.
Action
A summary of the principal actions of each muscle are given below. Please see each individual article for a more detailed description.
superior rectus: elevation in neutral gaze and adduction
superior oblique: internal rotation in neutral gaze, depression in adduction
medial rectus: adduction
lateral rectus: abduction
inferior oblique: external rotation in neutral gaze, elevation in adduction
inferior rectus: depression in neutral gaze and adduction
For more specific detail on eye movements, see:
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Arterial supply
Muscular branches of ophthalmic artery.
Venous drainage
Innervation
-
superior division: superior rectus muscle
inferior division: medial rectus, inferior rectus, and inferior oblique muscles
-
superior oblique muscle
-
lateral rectus muscle
Related pathology
See also
References
- 1. Chummy S. Sinnatamby. Last's Anatomy. (2018) ISBN: 9780702033940
Incoming Links
Articles:
- Medial rectus muscle
- POLG-related disorders
- Myofascial cone
- Ocular external rotators
- Ocular abductors
- Orbital lymphoma
- Proptosis
- Duane syndrome
- Saturday night retinopathy
- Oculomotor nucleus
- Superior ophthalmic vein
- Superior tarsal muscle
- Superior orbital fissure
- Levator palpebrae superioris muscle
- Eye movements
- Extraocular muscle involvement in thyroid associated orbitopathy (mnemonic)
- Caroticocavernous fistula
- Enlarged extraocular muscles (differential)
- Ophthalmoplegia
- Chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia
Cases:
- Extraocular muscles (Gray's illustration)
- Caroticocavernous fistula
- Cervical dural arteriovenous fistula
- Multifocal orbital and calvarial fractures
- Orbital medial wall blow-out fracture
- Basal cell carcinoma of the eyelid
- Idiopathic orbital inflammation
- Orbital medial wall and floor blow-out fracture
- Graves ophthalmopathy
- Graves ophthalmopathy
- Orbital medial wall blow-out fracture
- Blow-out fracture of the orbit and retrobulbar hemorrhage
- Blow-out fracture of the orbital medial wall
- Orbital medial wall blow-out fracture
- Orbital floor blow-out fracture
- Schwannoma of the orbital cavity
- Orbital medial wall and floor blow-out fracture
- Orbital blow-out fracture, ocular lens dislocation, and retrobulbar hemorrhage
- Giant frontal sinus osteoma
- Orbitotomy in Graves ophthalmopathy
Related articles: Anatomy: Head and neck
- skeleton of the head and neck
-
cranial vault
- scalp (mnemonic)
- fontanelle
-
sutures
- calvarial
- facial
- frontozygomatic suture
- frontomaxillary suture
- frontolacrimal suture
- frontonasal suture
- temporozygomatic suture
- zygomaticomaxillary suture
- parietotemporal suture (parietomastoid suture)
- occipitotemporal suture (occipitomastoid suture)
- sphenofrontal suture
- sphenozygomatic suture
- spheno-occipital suture (not a true suture)
- lacrimomaxillary suture
- nasomaxillary suture
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- basal/internal
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- frontal bone
- temporal bone
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facial bones
- midline single bones
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- hyoid bone
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cranial vault
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facial muscles
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buccolabial muscles
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- depressor labii inferioris muscle
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- mentalis muscle
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orbicularis oris muscle
- incisivus labii superioris muscle
- incisivus labii inferioris muscle
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orbicularis oris muscle
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- modiolus
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- orbital muscles
- muscles of the soft palate
- pharyngeal muscles
- suprahyoid muscles
- infrahyoid muscles
- intrinsic muscles of the larynx
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- platysma muscle
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suboccipital muscles
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- obliquus capitis superior muscle
- obliquus capitis inferior muscle
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- deep cervical fascia
-
deep spaces of the neck
- anterior cervical space
- buccal space
- carotid space
- danger space
- deep cervical fascia
- infratemporal fossa
- masticator space
- parapharyngeal space
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- parotid space
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- perivertebral space
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-
arterial supply
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common carotid artery
- carotid body
- carotid bifurcation
- subclavian artery
- variants
-
common carotid artery
- venous drainage
-
arterial supply
- innervation of the head and neck
-
cranial nerves
- olfactory nerve (CN I)
- optic nerve (CN II)
- oculomotor nerve (CN III)
- trochlear nerve (CN IV)
-
trigeminal nerve (CN V) (mnemonic)
- trigeminal ganglion
- ophthalmic division
- maxillary division
- mandibular division
- abducens nerve (CN VI)
- facial nerve (CN VII)
-
vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)
- vestibular ganglion (Scarpa's ganglion)
- glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX)
- vagus nerve (CN X)
- (spinal) accessory nerve (CN XI)
- hypoglossal nerve (CN XII)
- parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck
- cervical sympathetic ganglia
- greater occipital nerve
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cervical plexus
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- longus colli
- scalenes
- geniohyoid
- thyrohyoid
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ansa cervicalis
- omohyoid (superior and inferior bellies separately)
- sternothyroid
- sternohyoid
- phrenic nerve
- contribution to the accessory nerve (CN XI)
- cutaneous branches
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- brachial plexus
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cranial nerves
- lymphatic drainage of the head and neck
- embryological development of the head and neck
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