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Portrait of Gracilis

Anatomy · Muscles

Gracilis

The slender adductor that crosses the knee

Lower limb · thigh, medial compartment

Gracilis is the long, thin, strap-like muscle on the inner side of the thigh, the most superficial of the medial compartment. It runs from the pubis to the medial side of the tibia, where it joins the pes anserinus. It is the only adductor to cross the knee joint and is supplied by the obturator nerve.

How to spot them

  • ▸Slender ribbon of muscle down the inner thigh, superficial and medial
  • ▸Arises from the pubis and ends on the upper medial tibia
  • ▸Tendon lies behind that of sartorius, in the pes anserinus with semitendinosus
  • ▸Named for being slender: gracilis is Latin for graceful or slender

What to know

The slender, strap-like muscle of the inner thigh, the only adductor to cross the knee

Gracilis.

A muscle that arises from the body and inferior ramus of the pubis and inserts on the medial surface of the tibia

Gracilis.

One of three tendons of the pes anserinus, lying between sartorius and semitendinosus

Gracilis.

A long thin muscle often taken by surgeons as a flap or graft to reconstruct other areas

Gracilis.

A muscle of the adductor group supplied by the anterior division of the obturator nerve

Gracilis — obturator nerve (L2–L3).

It adducts the thigh, flexes the knee and medially rotates the flexed leg

Gracilis.

Key ideas

  • It crosses two joints, so it can flex the knee as well as adduct the hip, which sets it apart from the other adductors.
  • It is expendable: surgeons use it for reconstructive flaps and as a substitute for damaged muscle.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Origin: body and inferior ramus of the pubis.
  • •Insertion: medial surface of the upper tibia, in the pes anserinus.
  • •Nerve supply: obturator nerve (anterior division, L2–L3).
  • •Actions: adducts the thigh, flexes the knee and medially rotates the flexed leg.
  • •It is the most superficial and the only two-joint muscle in the adductor group.
  • •Gracilis is Latin for slender or graceful.
  • •Its tendon joins those of sartorius and semitendinosus at the pes anserinus.

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Sources