Plantar cuneocuboid ligament
Ligamentum cuneocuboideum plantare
A short fibrous band in the sole that joins the cuboid to the lateral cuneiform at the cuneocuboid joint of the midfoot.
At a glance
- English
- Plantar cuneocuboid ligament
- Latin (TA2)
- Ligamentum cuneocuboideum plantare
- System
- Ligament
- Region
- Foot
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the plantar cuneocuboid ligament
The plantar cuneocuboid ligament lies on the underside of the midfoot, where the lateral cuneiform sits against the medial face of the cuboid. It runs roughly transversely between the plantar parts of the two bones, crossing beneath the small plane synovial joint that unites them. Together with a dorsal and an interosseous ligament, it holds the cuneocuboid joint together; of the three, the interosseous band between the facing surfaces is the strongest, and the plantar one reinforces it from below.
The joint it supports lies in the distal row of tarsal bones, the row made up of the three cuneiforms and the cuboid. The lateral cuneiform is the cuneiform that borders the cuboid, so it is the one to which this band is chiefly fixed. In the sole the ligament is buried deep, under the long plantar ligament and close to the tunnel in which the tendon of fibularis longus crosses the foot. Slips of tibialis posterior also fan out to the cuboid and cuneiforms in this area.
Because the cuneiforms are wedge-shaped, narrower on their plantar side, the distal tarsal row forms a transverse arch whose summit lies at the intermediate cuneiform. Ligaments on the plantar side, including this one, act like ties across the base of that arch and prevent the bones from splaying apart when the foot takes weight. The joint itself allows only slight gliding, enough to let the midfoot twist a little on uneven ground.
The ligament is rarely injured on its own. It may be stretched in midfoot sprains or torn in fracture-dislocations of the tarsometatarsal region, where the distal tarsal row is also disrupted.
Attachments and function
- Attaches from
- The plantar part of the lateral cuneiform.
- Attaches to
- The plantar part of the cuboid, on its medial side.
- Function
- Binds the cuboid to the lateral cuneiform, reinforces the cuneocuboid joint from below and helps hold the transverse arch together.
- Nerve supply
- Articular branches of the lateral plantar nerve.
- Blood supply
- Branches of the lateral plantar artery and the deep plantar arch.
Anthromica
See the plantar cuneocuboid 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.
