Quadratus Femoris

Authors
Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Figure 1: Hip and Thigh Muscles1
Figure 2: Muscles of the gluteal and posterior femoral region2
Reading list
  • Ch57 piriformis, obturator internus, gemellus, obturator externus, quadratus femoris muscles3
  • Ch58 Quadriceps femoris and sartorius muscles3
  • Neuman4
Table 1 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ImportError                               Traceback (most recent call last)
Cell In[1], line 4
      2 import pandas as pd
      3 from pyprojroot import here
----> 4 from IPython.core.display import display, HTML
      6 # Set the path for the script file
      7 script_file_path = here("scripts/process_oian_table.py")

ImportError: cannot import name 'display' from 'IPython.core.display' (/Users/nathanielyomogida/Documents/GitHub/YK-lab-master/myenv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/IPython/core/display.py)

Origin

Lateral border of the ischial tuberosity5

Insertion

Intertrochanteric crest of the femur5

Innervation

Sacral plexus Direct Branches (L5, S1)5

Action

Hip: External rotation5

Note

The QF may extend or flex the hip depending on its position6.

Palpation

  1. Position the patient in prone7.
  2. locate:7.
    1. Posterior aspect of Greater trochanter7.
    2. Ischial tuberosity7.
  3. Bisect these two landmarks and place your fingerpads here7.
  4. Press firmly through the more superficial Gluteus maximus muscle belly7.
  5. Strum vertically over the QF muscle belly7.

Passive tension

You can passively tense and slack the quadratus femoris by flexing the knee to 90° then moving between internal rotation (tension) to external rotation (slack), which should cause the quadratus femoris to palpably increase in tension7.

References

1.
Betts JG, Blaker W. Openstax Anatomy and Physiology. 2nd ed. OpenStax; 2022. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/?Book%20details
2.
Gray H. Anatomy of the Human Body. 20th ed. (Lewis WH, ed.). Lea & Febiger; 1918. https://www.bartleby.com/107/
3.
Donnelly JM, Simons DG, eds. Travell, Simons & Simons’ Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. Third edition. Wolters Kluwer Health; 2019.
4.
Neumann DA, Kelly ER, Kiefer CL, Martens K, Grosz CM. Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System: Foundations for Rehabilitation. 3rd ed. Elsevier; 2017.
5.
Gilroy AM, MacPherson BR, Wikenheiser JC, Voll MM, Wesker K, Schünke M, eds. Atlas of Anatomy. 4th ed. Thieme; 2020.
6.
Jones B. B Project Foundations. b Project; 2025.
7.
Biel A. Trail Guide to the Body: A Hands-on Guide to Locating Muscles, Bones, and More. 6th ed. Books of Discovery; 2019.

Citation

For attribution, please cite this work as: