Articular capsules of metatarsophalangeal joints
Capsulae articulares articulationum metatarsophalangearum
The capsules surrounding the joints between the heads of the metatarsal bones and the bases of the proximal phalanges of the toes.
At a glance
- English
- Articular capsules of metatarsophalangeal joints
- Latin (TA2)
- Capsulae articulares articulationum metatarsophalangearum
- System
- Joint
- Region
- Foot
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the articular capsules of metatarsophalangeal joints
The metatarsophalangeal joints join the rounded head of each metatarsal to the shallow, hollow base of the proximal phalanx of its toe. They are ellipsoid synovial joints, and each is wrapped in a capsule attached around the margins of the two articular surfaces.
On the dorsum the capsule is thin and is reinforced by the expansion of the extensor tendons. On each side lies a collateral ligament, running obliquely from a tubercle on the side of the metatarsal head to the base of the phalanx. The plantar part is thickened into a dense plantar ligament, or plate, which is firmly fixed to the phalanx and more loosely to the metatarsal. The plates of neighbouring joints are linked by the deep transverse metatarsal ligament, and the flexor tendons slide in grooves across them. At the great toe the plantar part contains two sesamoid bones within the tendons of flexor hallucis brevis.
These joints allow flexion and extension, with a smaller amount of side-to-side movement, and they are strongly extended as the heel rises in walking. They are the site of several common problems. Hallux valgus, or bunion, is an outward drift of the great toe with a prominent first metatarsal head. Forced extension of the great toe can tear its plantar capsule, an injury known as turf toe. The first joint is the classic place for an acute attack of gout and for the stiffness of hallux rigidus. Tears of the plantar plate at the second joint can let that toe drift upwards and sideways.
Attachments and function
- Formed by
- Margins of the articular surfaces of the heads of the first to fifth metatarsal bones.
- Joins
- Margins of the articular surfaces of the bases of the proximal phalanges of the toes.
- Movements
- Enclose and stabilise the joints, allowing flexion, extension and limited abduction and adduction of the toes.
- Nerve supply
- Digital branches of the medial and lateral plantar nerves, and branches of the deep and superficial fibular nerves dorsally.
- Blood supply
- Plantar and dorsal metatarsal and digital arteries.
Anthromica
See the articular capsules of metatarsophalangeal joints where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
