David Bryde, Linda Khong, Palina Karakasidou, Nessa Waters, Michael Wong
Introduction
The popliteus muscle is described as a flat, triangular muscle with three origins; the lateral femoral condyle, lateral meniscus and arcuate popliteal ligament (Williams et al 1995). Studies have confirmed that the muscle inserts onto the posterior aspect of the tibia above the soleal line and the popliteofibular ligament (La Prade et al 2000 and Williams et al 1995). The attachment to the lateral meniscus has remained debatable, with Tria et al (1989) reporting absence of this attachment in 82.5% of 40 cases. However, the attachment of the popliteus to the lateral meniscus has been documented in other studies (Basmajian and Lovejoy 1971, Griffin 1984, Harner et al 1998, La Prade et al 2000, Simonian et al 1997). With regard to the attachment of the tendon to the lateral femoral condyle, Mink et al (1993) reports that the attachment is underneath the lateral collateral ligament (LCL), while Reid (1992) and Travell and Simons (1999) state that it is anterior to the LCL. Williams et al (1995) state that the tendon is intracapsular, while Mink et al (1993) reports that it is extracapsular, bordered anteromedially by a synovial-lined bursa which separates the LCL from the tendon.
