External oblique at a glance
- What it is
- The largest and most superficial lateral abdominal wall muscle.
- Location
- Origin: external surfaces of ribs 5–12. Insertion: linea alba, pubic tubercle and anterior half of the iliac crest.
- Function
- Compresses the abdomen and flexes the trunk; acting on one side, it bends the trunk to the same side and rotates it to the opposite side.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA13336 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: thoracoabdominal nerves (T7–T11) and subcostal nerve (T12)
- Its aponeurosis forms the inguinal ligament along its lower edge
Structures next to the external oblique
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Superior mesenteric vein · cardiovascular
- Ileocolic vein · cardiovascular
- Anterior inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Ascending colon · digestive
- Superior mesenteric artery · cardiovascular
- Anterior division of renal artery · cardiovascular
- Posterior inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery · cardiovascular
- Renal vein · cardiovascular
- Inferior mesenteric vein · cardiovascular
- Ascending lumbar vein · cardiovascular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: External oblique (FMA13336). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.