Dorsal cuboideonavicular ligament
Ligamentum cuboideonaviculare dorsale
A short oblique band on the top of the midfoot that ties the navicular bone to the cuboid bone beside it.
At a glance
- English
- Dorsal cuboideonavicular ligament
- Latin (TA2)
- Ligamentum cuboideonaviculare dorsale
- System
- Ligament
- Region
- Foot
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the dorsal cuboideonavicular ligament
The dorsal cuboideonavicular ligament is one of the small ligaments that hold the bones of the tarsus together. It lies on the dorsum of the foot, on the lateral side of the navicular, and passes obliquely forwards and laterally to the upper surface of the cuboid. It is short and flat, and it lies deep to the tendons of extensor digitorum longus and to extensor digitorum brevis.
The navicular and cuboid meet at the cuboideonavicular joint, which is usually a fibrous union but in some people has a small synovial cavity. Three ligaments bind the two bones: this dorsal band, a plantar cuboideonavicular ligament on the sole, and a strong interosseous ligament joining their facing rough surfaces. Together they make the two bones behave as one unit within the midfoot.
The joint sits just in front of the transverse tarsal (Chopart) joint, formed by the talonavicular and calcaneocuboid joints, and close to the bifurcate ligament, whose two limbs run from the calcaneus to the navicular and the cuboid. By holding the navicular and cuboid together, the dorsal ligament helps lock the medial and lateral columns of the foot, contributes to the transverse arch and limits gliding between the bones when the foot takes weight.
Isolated injury to this ligament is uncommon, but it can be strained in twisting injuries of the midfoot, often with sprains of the bifurcate ligament or with fractures of the navicular or cuboid. Pain on the dorsolateral midfoot after such an injury should prompt a search for these lesions rather than being dismissed as a simple ankle sprain.
Attachments and function
- Attaches from
- Dorsal surface of the navicular bone, on its lateral part.
- Attaches to
- Dorsal surface of the cuboid bone.
- Function
- Binds the navicular to the cuboid, limits gliding between them and helps stabilise the midfoot and transverse arch.
- Nerve supply
- Articular twigs of the deep fibular nerve.
- Blood supply
- Tarsal branches of the dorsalis pedis artery, chiefly the lateral tarsal artery.
Anthromica
See the dorsal cuboideonavicular ligament 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.
