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New insights into the origin of the lumbrical muscles of the foot: tendinous slip of the flexor hallucis longus muscle

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to clarify the origins of the lumbricals of the foot toward a better understanding of its precise action in the gait.

Methods

The lumbricals in the foot were investigated in 66 specimens of embalmed Korean adult cadavers.

Results

The first lumbrical arose as two muscle bellies from both the tendon of the FDL and the tendinous slip of the FHL in 83.3 %, and as one muscle belly from the tendon of the FDL or the tendinous slip of the FHL in 16.7 %. These two muscle bellies subsequently merged to form the muscle belly of the first lumbrical. The second lumbrical arose from the tendinous slips of the FHL for the second and third toes as well as the tendon of the FDL in all specimens. The third lumbrical arose from the tendinous slips of the FHL for the third and fourth toes in 69.7 %, and the fourth lumbrical arose from the tendinous slip of the FHL for the fourth toe in 18.2 %. Some deep muscle fibers of the fourth lumbrical arose from the tendinous slip of the FHL for the second toe in 4.5 %, for the third toe in 28.8 %, and for the fourth toe in 15.2 %.

Conclusions

The results of this study constitute new anatomical knowledge regarding the origin of the lumbricals, and provide insight into their specific role in production of gait. These findings will be useful for various types of surgery, biomechanics research, and rehabilitation programs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by research fund of Catholic Kwandong University (CKURF-201406610001).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, Room 502, Naegok-Dong 522, Gangneung, 210-701, South Korea

    Mi-Sun Hur, Jae-Hyoun Kim, Ho-Jeong Kim & Kyu-Seok Lee

  2. Department of Anatomy, Research Institute of Medical Science, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Young-Chun Gil

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  1. Mi-Sun Hur
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  2. Jae-Hyoun Kim
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  3. Young-Chun Gil
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  4. Ho-Jeong Kim
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  5. Kyu-Seok Lee
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Correspondence to Kyu-Seok Lee.

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Hur, MS., Kim, JH., Gil, YC. et al. New insights into the origin of the lumbrical muscles of the foot: tendinous slip of the flexor hallucis longus muscle. Surg Radiol Anat 37, 1161–1167 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-015-1488-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-015-1488-6

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