Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Lateral rectus

The extraocular muscle that turns the eye laterally; the only muscle supplied by the abducens nerve.

Key points

• CN VI ("LR6").
• Abducts the eye.
• Palsy → convergent squint.
• Lateral rectus: somitomere 5.
• Skeletal muscle: multinucleated, peripheral nuclei, striated.
• Epimysium → perimysium → endomysium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Origin · Insertion · Action · Nerve supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1574–1575, 1586–1593, 1684
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 7, PDF p. 109; ch. 9, PDF p. 126
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 8, PDF pp. 135–144

More from the head and neck

• Lens
• Levator palpebrae superioris
• Levator veli palatini
• Lips and oral cavity
• Longus colli and longus capitis
• Mandible
• Mandibular nerve
• Masseter
• Maxilla
• Maxillary artery
• Maxillary nerve
• Medial pterygoid

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