A cadaveric study of Gastrocnemius muscle from point of view of entrapment syndromes

• Author Details:   
• Shinde Amol Ashok
• Dinesh K. Patel
• Varshaly K. Bharambe

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Introduction: Gastrocnemius has a medial and lateral belly. It joins with soleus to get inserted as the Achilles tendon. Accessory heads of gastrocnemius can give rise to popliteal artery entrapment syndromes.
Materials and Method: 60 formalin embalmed lower limbs mere meticulously dissected to see for any variation in number of heads and nerve supply of Gastrocnemius.
Observations: 15% limbs showed accessory heads of gastrocnemius. 8.34% showed 4 heads and 6.66% showed 3 heads. Length of Achilles tendon in limbs with variation ranged from 6.1 cm to 12.8 cm.
Conclusion: Knowledge of accessory heads of gastrocnemius will help the radiologist during imaging studies in cases of polpliteal entrapment syndromes and neurovascular compression.

Keywords: Gastrocnemius tertius, Accessory head of gastrocnemius, Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome, Calf injury, Additional heads of gastrocnemius