A foot bearing load of multiple variations

Author(s): Dharwal Kumud* and Mahajan Anupama

During routine cadaveric dissection of a sole of foot, multiple variations were encountered. The flexor hallucis brevis muscle had a third head, arising from the medial tubercle of the calcaneal tuberosity. The flexor hallucis longus and the flexor digitorum longus tendons had multiple communications between them. The adductor hallucis muscle had a large oblique head and missing transverse head. The abductor of fifth metatarsal was present. The opponens digiti minimi muscle was present. These additional muscle slips may pose some problems to an individual, but can be godsend awards to be used as reconstruction flaps, in flexor injuries thereby sparing the use of other important long flexors. The knowledge of these variations in foot muscle architecture is of utmost importance in analysis of foot function, biomechanical modeling of the foot and prosthesis designing and to the orthopedist, radiologists and podiatrists. These additional slips also have an anthropological importance.

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