0:00
Greetings. I'm Professor
Albert van Schoor
from the University of
Pretoria in South Africa.
Now, I will be
guiding you through
the muscles found in the neck.
0:10
The neck is considered to be
the slender transitional
area between the head,
thorax, and upper limbs.
It extends from the
inferior margins
of the mandible and
base of the skull,
superiorly, and the superior
margin of the sternum,
the length of the clavicles up
to the chromium, inferiorly.
0:29
It contains vital neurovascular
and visceral structures
passing from or into the
head, trunk, and limbs.
Many of which do not have
the same level of
protection afforded
vital structures of the head or
trunk and are, therefore,
more vulnerable to injury.
0:47
It is important to understand
that the structures,
including the muscles of the
neck, are surrounded by skin,
as well as the cervical
subcutaneous tissue that
contains the superficial
cervical fascia
and platysma muscles.
The deepest structures
are grouped into
several compartments
surrounded by
the deep cervical fascia.
These layers of the fascia
of the neck are best
seen on a cross-section
in this example,
at the approximate level of
the seventh cervical vertebra.
1:18
The platysma muscle lies within
the superficial
cervical fascia as
two broad thin sheets of muscle
on the anterior lateral
aspect of the neck.
It is considered to be part of
the muscles of facial expression
and is innervated by
the cervical branch
of the facial nerve.
Its proximal attachment includes
the deep fascia of
the deltoid and
pectoralis major muscles.
From here the muscle fibers
crosses superomedially over
the clavicles to attach to
the inferior border of
the mandible distally;
there the fibers blend
with the facial muscles.
