Espiral AtlasMedial surface of the tibia
facies medialis tibiae
Study entry
Description
Surface of the shaft beside the anterior border, facing forward and inward, subcutaneous.
Palpation
Easy; the skin over it moves freely.
Source: cap. 7, «Huesos del miembro inferior: tibia» y «Anatomía de superficie»
Clinical correlation
Fractures of the tibia
The shaft of the tibia is narrowest at the junction of the middle and lower thirds: this is where it breaks most, and it is also the worst-supplied part. Because the anterior surface lies just under the skin, the tibia is the most common site of open fracture, for example when a car bumper strikes the leg. If the fracture passes through the nutrient canal and injures the nutrient artery, the fragments tend not to heal. Long untrained walks cause a stress fracture, transverse, in the lower third. Twisting with the foot fixed also breaks the tibia; in skiing, the twist gives a diagonal fracture at the middle-lower junction, often with the fibula, and the limb shortens.
Related clinical cases
- Fractures of the tibia