Interarticular ligament

Infobox Ligament
Name = Interarticular ligament
Latin = ligamentum capitis costae intraarticulare
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Caption = Costovertebral articulations. Anterior view. (Interarticular ligament labeled at lower left.)


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The interarticular ligament of the head of the rib is situated in the interior of the articulation of head of rib.

It consists of a short band of fibers, flattened from above downward, attached by one extremity to the crest separating the two articular facets on the head of the rib, and by the other to the intervertebral fibrocartilage; it divides the joint into two cavities.

In the joints of the first, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth ribs, the interarticular ligament does not exist; consequently, there is but one cavity in each of these articulations.

This ligament is the homologue of the ligamentum conjugale present in some mammals, and uniting the heads of opposite ribs, across the back of the intervertebral fibrocartilage.

ee also

* Head of rib