As one travels distally down the thigh, the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis insert on the quadriceps tendon, as well as along the lateral and medial margins of the patella, helping to form the lateral and medial fibrous retinaculum around the patella. Now, use the movie view of the thigh to follow these muscles up and down the legs. The short head is shown below originating on the linea aspera. The two heads of the biceps femoris then join laterally and insert on the head of the fibula. Orthopedic surgeons often take advantage of this peculiar anatomy and use part of the distal tendon to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Sartor is Latin for tailor, and the sartorius is sometimes referred to as the tailors muscle.
This may be because the sartorius acts to flex the hip and knee and laterally rotate the hip, just the thing for sitting cross-legged and sewing a garment. The distal tendons of the sartorius, gracilis and semitendinosus pass medial to the medial collateral ligament on their way to the tibial tuberosity. A bursa lies between these three tendons and the MCL, known, oddly enough, as the anserine bursa. Occasionally, one can see a fluid collection in this bursa due to anserine bursitis. This should not be mistaken for a popliteal cyst, which occurs more posteriorly, between the tendon of the medial head of the gastrocnemius and the semimembranosus tendon.