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Anterior scalene
Other Terms:
Scalenus anterior,
Anterior scalene,
Musculus scalenus anterior,
Muscle scalène antérieur
Muscle parts
None
Latin name
Musculus scalenus anterior
Latin muscle parts
None
Group
Cervical wall – lateral musculature – internal layer
Etymology
The English name for this muscle is the muscle with three unequal sides that is before the others. Scalenus is Latin for “having three unequal sides,” which comes from the Greek skallein meaning “to hoe, or stir up.” The name of the scalene muscles can be traced back to the 17th century French anatomist Jean Riolan. He thought that the three scalenes were one muscle and he envisioned their combined shape as that of an irregular three-sided, or scalene, triangle.The Latin term anterior is derived from the Latin ante meaning “before.”
Origin
Anterior tubercles of the transverse processes of C3, C4, C5, and C6
Insertion
Scalene tubercle of the first rib
Action
Flexes, laterally flexes, and rotates the cervical vertebrae; elevates the first rib.
Nerve supply
Branches from the cervical ventral rami (C4, C5, and C6)
Blood supply
The ascending cervical and various muscular branches from the inferior thyroid, which is a branch of the thyrocervical trunk of the subclavian artery, supply the muscle. It also receives blood from the suprascapular artery, superficial cervical artery, and dorsal scapular artery.
Latin
Musculus scalenus anterior
French
Muscle scalène antérieur