anterior belly of digastric imuscle nnervation

The anterior belly of the digastric muscle inserts to the digastric fossa, in the lower interior of the mandible. These muscle groups anchor the hyoid bone against the traction of the infrahyoid muscles. The bellies of the digastric are joined together by an intermediate tendon that passes through a fibrous sling that is attached to the body of the hyoid bone. The groups of suprahyoid muscles include four muscles: the digastric, the geniohyoid, stylohyoid and mylohyoid. It is formed by two bellies: an anterior and a posterior belly. The digastric muscle belongs to the group of suprahyoid muscles. It is very important to consider the occurrence of the above mentioned variations in the digastric muscle when surgical procedures are performed on the anterior region of the neck. The anatomical variations observed of our study related only to the anterior belly, as previously described by other authors. Two anterior bellies connect each other and thus they formed a loop. The anterior bellies were very thin and insert to the hyoid bone. We found out bilateral variation of the digastric muscle in one cadaver. The digastric muscles that presented anatomical variations were photographed using a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 camera, with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens.

During routine dissection in February 2013 in the section hall of the Department of Anatomy and Histology in Medical University – Sofia we came across a very interesting variation of the digastric muscle. We found that the anatomical variations described in the literature relate mainly to the anterior belly and consist of differences in shape and attachment of the muscle. The region between the hyoid bone and the mandible is divided by an anterior belly into two triangles: the submandibular situated laterally and the submental triangle which is located medially.

This muscle is situated in the anterior region of the neck. The digastric muscle is composed by two muscle bellies: an anterior and a posterior, joined by an intermediate tendon.

Anterior belly of digastric imuscle nnervation