Espiral AtlasCostotransverse joints
articulationes costotransversariae
Study entry
Classification
Synovial plane joint.
Surfaces
The tubercle of the rib with the transverse process of the vertebra of the same number. The 11th and 12th ribs do not articulate with the transverse process. The surfaces of the tubercles of the six upper ribs are convex and fit into the concavities of the transverse processes; those of the 7th to 10th ribs are flat.
Capsule
Thin capsules, reinforced by ligaments lateral to the posterior parts of the vertebrae: the costotransverse (from the neck of the rib to the transverse process, on the anterior surface), the lateral costotransverse (from the tubercle of the rib to the tip of the transverse process, on the posterior) and the superior costotransverse (a broad band that joins the crest of the neck of the rib to the transverse process above; the opening between it and the vertebra transmits the spinal nerve and the posterior branch of the intercostal artery), which may divide into a strong anterior and a posterior part.
Movements
Slight gliding; in the six upper ribs there is rotation about a transverse axis that passes through the intra-articular ligament, the head and the neck, raising and lowering the sternal ends of the ribs and the sternum in a sagittal plane (pump handle). In the 7th to 10th ribs the gliding raises and lowers the more lateral parts of the ribs in a transverse plane (bucket handle).
Blood supply
[CHECK: Moore does not describe it in the passages consulted (look in another source).]
Innervation
[CHECK: Moore does not describe it in the passages consulted (look in another source).]
Source: cap. 4, tabla 4-1 e «Articulaciones de la pared torácica»