Espiral AtlasNutrient foramen of the tibia
foramen nutricium tibiae
Study entry
Description
A large foramen on the posterior surface of the shaft, just below the soleal line, at the end of an oblique vascular groove.
Relations
It carries the main artery of the proximal end of the tibia and of the bone marrow; the nutrient canal descends inside the bone.
Source: cap. 7, «Huesos del miembro inferior: tibia»
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