Deep fascia

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Deep fascia
Details
Identifiers
Latinfascia profunda
Anatomical terminology

Deep fascia (or investing fascia) is a fascia, a layer of dense connective tissue that can surround individual muscles and groups of muscles to separate into fascial compartments.

This fibrous connective tissue interpenetrates and surrounds the muscles, bones, nerves, and blood vessels of the body. It provides connection and communication in the form of

tendons, retinacula, joint capsules, and septa. The deep fasciae envelop all bone (periosteum and endosteum); cartilage (perichondrium), and blood vessels (tunica externa) and become specialized in muscles (epimysium, perimysium, and endomysium) and nerves (epineurium, perineurium, and endoneurium). The high density of collagen fibers gives the deep fascia its strength and integrity. The amount of elastin fiber determines how much extensibility and resilience it will have.[1]

Examples

Examples include:

Fascial dynamics

Deep fascia is less extensible than

thermoreceptors).[3][4] Deep fascia is able to respond to sensory input by contracting; by relaxing; or by adding, reducing, or changing its composition through the process of fascial remodeling.[5]

Fascia may be able to contract due to the activity of

myofibroblasts which may play a role in wound healing.[6]

The deep fascia can also relax. By monitoring changes in muscular tension, joint position, rate of movement, pressure, and vibration, mechanoreceptors in the deep fascia are capable of initiating relaxation. Deep fascia can relax rapidly in response to sudden muscular overload or rapid movements.

Ruffini endings respond to regular stretching and to slow sustained pressure. In addition to initiating fascial relaxation, they contribute to full-body relaxation by inhibiting sympathetic activity which slows down heart rate and respiration.[3][8]

When contraction persists, fascia will respond with the addition of new material. Fibroblasts secrete collagen and other proteins into the

tensile strength of the fascia, it can unfortunately restrict the very structures it aims to protect. The pathologies resulting from fascial restrictions range from a mild decrease in joint range of motion to severe fascial binding of muscles, nerves and blood vessels, as in compartment syndrome of the leg. However, if fascial contraction can be interrupted long enough, a reverse form of fascial remodeling occurs. The fascia will normalize its composition and tone and the extra material that was generated by prolonged contraction will be ingested by macrophages within the extracellular matrix.[9]

Like mechanoreceptors, chemoreceptors in deep fascia also have the ability to promote fascial relaxation. We tend to think of relaxation as a good thing, however fascia needs to maintain some degree of tension. This is especially true of ligaments. To maintain joint integrity, they need to provide adequate tension between bony surfaces. If a ligament is too lax, injury becomes more likely. Certain chemicals, including

hormones, can influence the composition of the ligaments. An example of this is seen in the menstrual cycle, where hormones are secreted to create changes in the uterine and pelvic floor fascia. The hormones are not site-specific, however, and chemoreceptors in other ligaments of the body can be receptive to them as well. The ligaments of the knee may be one of the areas where this happens, as a significant association between the ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle and an increased likelihood for an anterior cruciate ligament injury has been demonstrated.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Hedley, Gil (2005). The Integral Anatomy Series Vol. 2: Deep Fascia and Muscle (DVD). Integral Anatomy Productions. Retrieved 2006-07-17.
  2. ISBN 0892813350
    .
  3. ^
    doi:10.1016/S1360-8592(02)00067-0
    .
  4. ^ Gatt, Adrianna; Agarwal, Sanjay; Zito, Patrick M. (2021). "Anatomy, Fascia Layers". StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
  5. ISBN 0443063516
    .
  6. PMID 11988769
    .
  7. ISBN 0892812761
    .
  8. doi:10.1016/S1360-8592(02)00076-1
    .
  9. ISBN 093961653X
    .
  10. PMID 9784805
    .
  11. PMID 16558557
    .
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