A Comprehensive Review of the Anatomy of Popliteus and Its Clinico-Surgical Relevance

Abstract

An extensive anatomical knowledge of the muscle popliteus and its tendon is indispensable to understand the posterolateral structures of the knee which is prone to injury compared to the medial knee structures. This study describes all the relevant anatomical details of the muscle and its clinical significance. Anatomical and clinical terms regarding the popliteus muscle are searched using databases and search engines for the collection of literature review. Abstracts and articles describing the posterolateral corner (PLC) structures apart from the muscle studied were excluded. Seventy-six articles were adopted using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, among which 62 articles had fulfilled the need. Original articles dealing with morphology and morphometric analysis of popliteus muscle are scarce. Hence, the finer details of the anatomy of the muscle in various populations are unavailable, which is considered as a deficiency of the study. This article deals with the morphology of the popliteus and its clinical and surgical implications pertaining to the PLC of the knee.

Keywords

• popliteofibular ligament
• popliteomeniscal fascicles
• popliteus muscle tendon unit
• popliteus tear
• posterolateral corner