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Characteristics of the accessory tendon of the extensor hallucis longus muscle: a Taiwanese study

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Abstract

Purpose

The main tendon of the extensor hallucis longus (EHL) muscle attaches to the dorsal aspect of the distal phalanx of the great toe. One or multiple accessory tendons of the EHL have been reported in several ethnic/regional groups, except Taiwan. This study aimed to investigate the incidence, length, and insertion of the accessory tendon of the EHL in Taiwanese people.

Methods

Anatomical dissection was performed on 48 feet of 24 formalin-embalmed cadavers. The occurrence and morphological characteristics of the accessory tendon of the EHL were recorded and analyzed.

Results

The accessory tendon of the EHL was found in 97.92% (47/48) of the legs that were dissected. In one male cadaver, an independent muscle belly was identified in each leg, whereas all the other accessory tendons originated from the main tendon of the EHL. In this study, the insertion of the accessory tendon were classified into four patterns. The most common insertion sites were the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint capsule and proximal phalanx of the great toe. The length of the accessory tendons did not correlate with age or with sex when the two tendons with independent muscle belly were excluded.

Conclusions

The accessory tendon of the EHL appears to be a regular feature in Taiwanese people. Most accessory tendons of the EHL (85.7%) attached on the first MTP joint capsule may play a role in the prevention of capsular impingement during great toe extension.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to those altruistic silent mentors who donated their bodies to the Tzu Chi Body Donation Program for medical education. We also thank Mr. Yi-Fan Chen for image processing and Enago for the English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Tzu Chi University, 701, Section 3, Chung-Yang Road, Hualien, 97004, Taiwan

    Kuen-Cherng Lai, Hsu-Wen Tan, Li-Jin Chen, Pei-Hsin Liu, Guo-Fang Tseng & Han-Chen Ho

Authors
  1. Kuen-Cherng Lai
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  2. Hsu-Wen Tan
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  3. Li-Jin Chen
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  4. Pei-Hsin Liu
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  5. Guo-Fang Tseng
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Contributions

K-CL: data acquisition and analysis, drafting of manuscript. H-WT: data acquisition, revision. L-JC: data acquisition, revision. P-HL: data acquisition, revision. G-FT: data acquisition, revision. H-CH: data acquisition, drafting of manuscript and critical revision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Han-Chen Ho.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Ethics approval

The research was done in the Gross Anatomy Laboratory course for medical students. All cadavers were obtained through the Tzu Chi Body Donation Program with written consents, dedicated to medical education.

Informed consent

Written consents were obtained from all our donors through the Tzu Chi Body Donation Program.

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Lai, KC., Tan, HW., Chen, LJ. et al. Characteristics of the accessory tendon of the extensor hallucis longus muscle: a Taiwanese study. Surg Radiol Anat 43, 1053–1059 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02648-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02648-8

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