Superior rectus muscle

Last revised by Wilson Tao ◉ on 8 Mar 2025

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Jones J, Tao W, Hacking C, et al. Superior rectus muscle. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 21 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-10416

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-10416

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/10416?embed_domain=external.radpair.com%252527%25255B0%25255D%252527%25255B0%25255Dfavicon.icofavicon.icofavicon.icofavicon.ico

rID:

10416

Article created:

12 Aug 2010, Jeremy Jones ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Jeremy Jones had no recorded disclosures.

View Jeremy Jones's current disclosures

Last revised:

8 Mar 2025, Wilson Tao ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Wilson Tao had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Wilson Tao's current disclosures

Revisions:

15 times, by 8 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Head & Neck

Sections:

Anatomy

Tags:

refs, cases, stub

Synonyms:

Superior rectus

Superior rectus muscle is one of the six extraocular muscles that control eye movements.

innervation: superior branch of the oculomotor nerve (CN III)
origin: annulus of Zinn (tendinous ring)
insertion: globe (anterior, superior surface)
primary function: one of two ocular elevators
secondary function: one of the two ocular internal rotators
tertiary function: one of the three ocular adductors

Gross anatomy

Origin

Superior rectus, along with the other rectus muscles, arises from the annulus of Zinn, the common tendinous ring at the apex of the orbit that surrounds the optic canal ¹.

Insertion

Superior rectus runs anteriorly over the superior surface of the eye and inserts into the superior surface of the sclera just posterior to the junction of cornea and sclera ².

Relations

Superior rectus is closely related to levator palpebrae superioris, which runs parallel and immediately superior to it and is responsible for elevation of the eyelid.

Arterial supply

Branches of the ophthalmic artery, itself a branch of the internal carotid artery.

Innervation

The superior division of the oculomotor nerve innervates the superior rectus muscle, while the inferior division innervates the medial rectus, inferior rectus, and inferior oblique muscles.

Within the oculomotor nucleus complex, there is a subnucleus that sends nerve fibres which decussate at the level of the midbrain to innervate the contralateral superior rectus muscle; nerve fibres to the remaining muscles supplied by the oculomotor nucleus are ipsilateral as they do not decussate ⁵.

Action

The primary action of the superior rectus is to elevate the eye (see figure 1) ¹. However, because the apex of the orbit is placed medially in the skull, the orbital axis that the superior rectus runs in does not correspond with the optical axis of the eye in its neutral position. This means that the superior rectus has secondary actions of adduction and internal rotation (see figures 2 and 3).

If the eye is abducted by the lateral rectus such that the optical axis lines up with the orbital axis, the superior rectus produces ocular elevation only, and is solely responsible for this movement. Thus, when the physician testing eye movements first asks the patient to follow their finger laterally then superiorly in the familiar H-shape, the superior rectus muscle (and the oculomotor nerve that supplies it) are being directly tested.

If the eye is adducted by the medial rectus, the orbital axis runs almost perpendicular to the optical axis, so the superior rectus no longer produces effective ocular elevation, and instead produces internal rotation and adduction.