Levatores costarum muscle

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Levatores costarum muscle
Deep muscles of the back. (Levatores costarum labeled vertically at center left.)
Latin musculi levatores costarum
Gray's subject #117 403
Origin: Transverse processes of C7 to T12 vertebrae
Insertion: Superior surfaces of the ribs immediately inferior to the preceding vertebrae
Artery:
Nerve: dorsal rami C8-T11
Action: Assists in elevation of the thoracic rib cage
Dorlands/Elsevier m_22/12549574

The Levatores costarum, twelve in number on either side, are small tendinous and fleshy bundles, which arise from the ends of the transverse processes of the seventh cervical and upper eleven thoracic vertebrae

They pass obliquely downward and lateralward, like the fibers of the Intercostales externi, and each is inserted into the outer surface of the rib immediately below the vertebra from which it takes origin, between the tubercle and the angle (Levatores costarum breves).

Each of the four lower muscles divides into two fasciculi, one of which is inserted as above described; the other passes down to the second rib below its origin (Levatores costarum longi).

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This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.