External intercostal muscle
External intercostal muscle |
---|
Muscles of the human rib cage |
origin |
rib |
approach |
following rib |
function |
inhalation |
Innervation |
Nervi intercostales ( spinal nerves of the chest part of the spinal cord ) |
Spinal segments |
Th1-Th11 |
The musculus intercostalis externus ( Latin for "external intercostal muscle ") is a skeletal muscle of the thorax that runs in the respective intercostal space . The external intercostals muscles (plural) run obliquely ventrocaudal (towards the abdomen and tail, in humans that is, forwards and downwards) from one rib to the next.
The external intercostal muscles, together with the ribs and the internal intercostal muscles below, form the chest wall . The contraction of the external intercostal muscles lifts the ribs and thus expands the chest, whereby these muscles support inhalation ( inspiration ) ("auxiliary inspirer ") and are counted as respiratory muscles .
The fascia that covers the muscle anteriorly is the external thoracic fascia .
literature
- Franz-Viktor Salomon: muscle tissue. In: Anatomy for veterinary medicine. Enke, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8304-1007-7 , pp. 147-234.
- Walther Graumann, Dieter Sasse (ed.): Compact textbook of anatomy: Volume 2: musculoskeletal system . 1st edition. Schattauer, 2004, ISBN 3-7945-2062-9 , p. 58 .