Anat Cell Biol 2023; 56(4): 441-447
Published online December 31, 2023
https://doi.org/10.5115/acb.23.043
Copyright © Korean Association of ANATOMISTS.
Nandini Prashanth Bhat , Suhani Sumalatha , Ashwija Shetty , Sushma Prabhath
Department of Anatomy, Kasturba Medical College Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
Correspondence to:Sushma Prabhath
Department of Anatomy, Kasturba Medical College Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
E-mail: sushma.rk@manipal.edu
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
One of the suprahyoid muscles is the digastric muscle which comprises anterior and posterior bellies joined by an intermediate tendon. Because of its close relationship with the submandibular gland, lymph nodes, and chief vessels of the neck, detailed knowledge about the morphometry of the digastric muscle is essential. The objective of the current cross-sectional evaluative study is to record morphometry along with the digastric muscle’s origin, insertion, and variability. Forty human cadavers (25 males and 15 females) were dissected, and the head and neck regions were studied in detail. The attachment of the digastric muscle anterior belly to the digastric fossa of the mandible was noted, and the distal attachment of the posterior belly to the mastoid notch was traced. The length of the anterior belly from the digastric fossa to its intermediate tendon and the length of the posterior belly from the intermediate tendon to its mastoid attachment were measured. There is a fair correlation between the length of the neck and the length of the anterior and posterior belly. The study also identified two cases of bilateral accessory bellies of the anterior belly of the digastric. Normal morphometric data is provided by this study on details of the digastric muscle. It is significant from a clinical and surgical point of view as the muscle lies in proximity to the important structures of the neck.
Keywords: Digastric muscle, Anterior belly, Posterior belly, Morphometry, Variation