If you insert the needle inferior to the midpoint of the inguinal ligament, you are likely to miss the artery and may hit the femoral nerve. Its origin from the ECA is more variable than indicated, sometimes lying one or two centimeters above the carotid bifurcation. While this is true of some fibers of the superior head of the lateral pterygoid, the majority of fibers insert into the anterior aspect of the mandibular condyle. In about a third of cases there is no meniscal insertion at all. Insertion - All fibers constituting the tensor's dilator tubae portion insert by joining the tendon of the rest of the muscle.
None go to the medial pterygoid plate.
Action - As stated, the dilator tubae portion of the tensor helps to open the auditory tube by deforming and rotating its cartilage, but it is probably also true that these fibers assist in tubal opening by directly pulling on the lateral fibrous wall. The muscles are completely separate in rhesus monkeys, dogs, and early in human development. Also, the last four entries in the Neurovascular Contents column have been improperly typeset. They should each be moved down one row. There are no major neurovascular contents of the superficial posterior antebrachial compartment.