Talonavicular ligament
Ligamentum talonaviculare
A broad, thin band on the top of the foot joining the talar neck to the top of the navicular.
At a glance
- English
- Talonavicular ligament
- Latin (TA2)
- Ligamentum talonaviculare
- System
- Ligament
- Region
- Foot
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the talonavicular ligament
The talonavicular ligament, sometimes called the dorsal talonavicular ligament, lies on the upper side of the foot just in front of the ankle. It is a wide but thin sheet that covers the top of the joint between the head of the talus and the back of the navicular. Its fibres start on the neck of the talus, the narrowed region behind the head, and pass forwards to the dorsal face of the navicular.
The joint it covers is part of the talocalcaneonavicular joint, in which the rounded talar head sits in a socket formed by the navicular in front, the calcaneus below and the spring ligament in between. The talonavicular band is the main reinforcement of the capsule on its upper side. It is thin because little load is carried on this aspect. Over it run the tendons of the long extensors of the toes and tibialis anterior, with the dorsalis pedis artery and the deep fibular nerve passing close by. On the lateral side it lies near the bifurcate ligament.
The talonavicular joint, together with the calcaneocuboid joint, makes up the transverse tarsal joint across the hindfoot. The talar head can roll and turn in its socket, and this movement contributes to inversion and eversion of the foot and to the way the midfoot locks and unlocks during walking. The dorsal ligament limits the talar head from rising out of the joint when the foot is forced down and in.
Pain over the front of the ankle after a twisting injury is sometimes due to a sprain of this band rather than the lateral ankle ligaments. A small flake of bone pulled off the top of the navicular, a dorsal avulsion fracture, may be seen on radiographs after such an injury.
Attachments and function
- Attaches from
- The neck of the talus, on its upper surface.
- Attaches to
- The dorsal face of the navicular.
- Function
- Reinforces the upper side of the talonavicular part of the talocalcaneonavicular joint and limits the talar head lifting out of its socket during plantarflexion and inversion.
- Nerve supply
- Articular branches of the deep fibular nerve.
- Blood supply
- Branches of the dorsalis pedis artery, chiefly the medial and lateral tarsal arteries.
Anthromica
See the talonavicular 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.
