Plantar calcaneocuboid ligament
Ligamentum calcaneocuboideum plantare
The short plantar ligament: a wide, very strong sole band joining the front of the calcaneus to the cuboid, under the long plantar ligament.
At a glance
- English
- Plantar calcaneocuboid ligament
- Latin (TA2)
- Ligamentum calcaneocuboideum plantare
- System
- Ligament
- Region
- Foot
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the plantar calcaneocuboid ligament
The plantar calcaneocuboid ligament, usually called the short plantar ligament, binds the heel bone to the cuboid on the underside of the foot. It is short from back to front but broad and exceptionally strong. It begins on the anterior tubercle of the calcaneus and the shallow hollow just in front of it, at the forward end of the bone's plantar surface, and runs forwards and a little medially to the underside of the cuboid, just behind the tendon groove for fibularis longus.
It is the deeper of the two plantar ligaments on the lateral side of the sole. Superficial to it lies the long plantar ligament, which covers it almost completely; the two are separated only by a thin layer of loose areolar tissue. The short ligament therefore lies directly against the plantar capsule of the calcaneocuboid joint and forms its main reinforcement on that side.
The calcaneocuboid joint is the lateral half of the transverse tarsal joint, the line across the hindfoot where the talus and calcaneus meet the navicular and cuboid. Movements here combine with those at the subtalar joint in inversion and eversion. The short plantar ligament limits gapping of the joint on its plantar side and holds the cuboid against the calcaneus when weight is taken through the outer part of the foot.
Along with the long plantar ligament and the plantar aponeurosis, it supports the lateral longitudinal arch, which is lower and flatter than the medial arch and makes contact with the ground. Sprains of the calcaneocuboid joint are less common than lateral ankle sprains but may follow a similar twisting injury.
Attachments and function
- Attaches from
- The anterior tubercle on the underside of the calcaneus and the shallow hollow ahead of it.
- Attaches to
- The underside of the cuboid, behind the groove for the tendon of fibularis longus.
- Function
- Holds the cuboid against the calcaneus, reinforces the plantar side of the calcaneocuboid joint and supports the lateral longitudinal arch.
- Nerve supply
- Articular branches of the lateral plantar nerve.
- Blood supply
- Branches of the lateral plantar artery.
Anthromica
See the plantar calcaneocuboid 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.
