Levator scapulae muscle
muscle
The levator scapulae is a slender skeletal muscle situated at the back and side of the neck. It originates from the transverse processes of the four uppermost cervical vertebrae; it inserts onto the upper portion of the medial border of the scapula. It is innervated by the cervical nerves C3-C4, and frequently also by the dorsal scapular nerve. As the Latin name suggests, its main function is to lift the scapula.
Anatomy
Attachments
The muscle descends diagonally from its origin to its insertion.
Origin
The levator scapulae originates from the posterior tubercles of the transverse processes of cervical vertebrae C1-4. At its origin, it attaches via tendinous slips.
Insertion
It inserts onto the medial border of the scapula (with its site of insertion extending between the superior angle of the scapula superiorly, and the junction of spine of scapula and medial border of scapula inferiorly).
Relations
One of the muscles within the floor of the posterior triangle of the neck, the superior part of levator scapulae is covered by sternocleidomastoid and its inferior part by the trapezius.
It is bounded in front by the scalenus medius and behind by splenius cervicis.
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This entry incorporates text from “Levator scapulae muscle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.