The Occurrence of the Plantaris Muscle and its Muscle-Tendon Relationship in Adult Human Cadavers Presencia de Músculos Plantares y su Relación Musculotendinosa en Cadáveres Humanos Adultos

SUMMARY: Twenty legs from adult male cadavers were examined to analyze the anatomical relationships between the componentparts of the plantaris muscle. This muscle was present in all of the cadavers and it was found that the length of the muscle in relation toits belly was approximately three times greater than in relation to the tendon. KEY WORDS: Plantaris muscle; Anatomy. INTRODUCTION The plantaris muscle is a small muscle with a shortbelly and long thin tendon that forms part of the posteriorsuperficial compartment of the leg, together with the soleusand gastrocnemius muscles (Moore, 2001). From ananatomical point of view, it is a fusiform muscle in whichthe muscle belly occupies a length of 5 to 10 cm(Hollinshead, 1980). Simpson et al . (1991) believed that theplantaris muscle was an accessory muscle and only vestigialin humans, and that it might be absent in 7 to 20% ofindividuals. According to Cruveilhier (1834), this musclehas little importance in leg movements. They compared itwith the palmaris longus muscle of the forearm. The plantarismuscle, just like the psoas minor muscle in humans, maysometimes be absent (Testut, L. & Latarjet, 1977; Gardner