General Ankle Anatomy
More in depth information may be
found on our site discussing sprains and their
treatment as well as specific directions
for the taping of ankles.
Since tweaks, sprains and other minor
nagging injuries to the ankles are particularly prevalent in track a
general overview of the anatomy of the ankle is included here. There
are numerous sites which are readily accessible online to provide in
depth, quality information`related to the subject. At the time of
publishing in 2011, among the most informative and user friendly we
have found is the website of Skill Builders Physiotherapy and
Rehabilitation Centre of Barrie, Ontario, Canada. In the box to the
right labelled Outside Links we have included links to several pages
of their site which are relevant to this page. We also have included
an additional link to another useful site, eOrthopod for additional
information.
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The ankle is normally
a stable joint.
Structural material includes:
- Bones
- Ligaments
- Tendons
- Muscles
- Nerves
- Blood
vessels
- .Articular cartilage
The surfaces of the joint are
- Dorsal - top of the foot
- Plantar
- sole of the foot
- Lateral - the
outer side
- Medial - inner side.
Bones involved
- Talus
- fits inside socket formed by the tibia and the
fibula.
- sits atop the calcaneus
- mobility of the talus allows the foot to move
- Calcaneus
- Tibia bottom end
- the shin - which is the
larger bone of the lower leg
- Fibula bottom end
- the smaller
bone on the outer lower leg
Movement
- Dorsiflexion - upward foot movement
- Plantarflexion - downward foot movement
- Eversion - side to side movement
Articular Cartilage
- Bone contacs covered with
1/4" of smooth material
allowing bones to move easily
Ligaments and tendons
- Similar groupings of small
collagen fibers
- Bundled together to form rope-like structures
- Various sizes with thickness determining strength.
Ligaments
- Attach bones to bones
- Lateral ankle contains three ligaments
- anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL)
- calcaneofibular ligament(CFL)
- posterior talofibular ligament (PTFL)
- Medial ankle contains
- Ankle syndesmosis (fibula and tibia meeting area
contains a series of three ligament groups
- anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament (AITFL)
- crosses
just above the front of the ankle connecting tibia
to fibula,
- posterior fibular ligaments
- attach across back of tibia and fibula
- the posterior inferior
tibiofibular ligament (PITFL
- transverse ligament
- interosseous ligament
- between tibia and fibula
- long sheet of connective tissue joining length of tibia and fibula, from knee to
ankle.
- Ligaments surrounding the ankle form part of the
joint capsule
- watertight sac around joints made up of
the ligaments around the joint and the soft tissues between
the ligaments that fill in the gaps and form the sac.
Tendons
- Attach muscles
to bones
- Achilles
- attaches calf muscles to
calcaneus
- allows raising up on toes
- Posterior tibial
- attaches one of the
smaller calf muscles to underside of foot
- allows turning foot inward
- Anterior tibial tendon
- Peroneal,
- two tendons run behind lateral malleolus (outer bump of the
ankle)
- turn foot down and out
Muscles
- Lower leg muscles whose tendons pass by ankle and connect in
the foot cause most foot motion
- Peroneals
- peroneus
longus
- peroneus brevis
- on outer ankle
and foot
- Calf muscles
- gastrocnemius
- soleus)
- connect to calcaneus by the
Achilles tendon
- Posterior tibialis
- supports the
arch and helps turn the foot inward
- Anterior tibialis
Nerves
- Pass
the ankle on way into foot
- Tibial nerve
- runs
behind medial malleolus
- Nerve crosses front
of ankle to top of foot
- Nerve passes along outer ankle.
- The
nerves on front and outer ankle control
muscles in area, and give sensation to top and
outside of foot
Blood vessels
- Ankle gets blood from arteries
passing ankle on way to foot
- Dorsalis
pedis
- runs in front of ankle to top of foot
- Posterior tibial artery
- runs behind medial
malleolus
- sends smaller blood vessels to the inside ankle
- Less important arteries enter foot from other directions also supply blood to
ankle
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Outside Links
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