Description
The tibiofibular syndesmosis, or the inferior tibiofibular joint, is the articulation between the rough concave surface of the fibular notch at the distal end of the tibia and the rough medial convex surface on the distal end of the fibula. The inferior tibiofibular joint is a syndesmosis, meaning that it is a fibrous joint and lacks a joint capsule. However, the lower aspect of the articular surfaces of the inferior tibiofibular joint may be covered with articular cartilage (Standring, 2016). Both the superior and inferior tibiofibular joints allow almost no movement between the tibia and fibula (Wineski, 2018).
The ligaments of the inferior tibiofibular joint are the interosseous ligament, anterior and posterior tibiofibular ligaments, and the inferior transverse ligament. These ligaments are responsible for maintaining the stability of the inferior tibiofibular joint.
The inferior tibiofibular joint receives its arterial blood supply from the perforating branch of the fibular artery and the anterior lateral malleolar artery. The inferior tibiofibular joint receives sensory innervation from the deep fibular nerve and the tibial nerve via the crural interosseous nerve (Standring, 2016).
Related parts of the anatomy
References
Standring, S. (2016) Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. Gray's Anatomy Series 41st edn.: Elsevier Limited.
Wineski, L. E. (2018) Snell's Clinical Anatomy by Regions. 10 edn.: Wolters Kluwer Health.
