Transverse tarsal joint

Study entry

Classification

Compound joint, formed by two joints aligned transversely: the talonavicular part of the talocalcaneonavicular joint and the calcaneocuboid joint.

Surfaces

Head of the talus with the navicular (and the calcaneus) and calcaneus with the cuboid.

Capsule

Main ligaments of the plantar surface: the plantar calcaneonavicular («spring» ligament), in a gap between the sustentaculum tali and the lower border of the navicular, which supports the head of the talus and is the keystone of the longitudinal arch; the long plantar, from the plantar surface of the calcaneus to the groove for the fibularis longus on the cuboid, with fibers to the bases of the metatarsals, which forms a tunnel for the tendon of the fibularis longus; and the plantar calcaneocuboid (short plantar), between the two former, from the calcaneus to the cuboid.

Movements

The midfoot and forefoot rotate as a unit on the hindfoot about a longitudinal axis, increasing the inversion and eversion of the clinical subtalar joint. Cutting through the joint is a common surgical amputation of the foot.

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. 7, «Articulaciones del miembro inferior»: articulación transversa del tarso y ligamentos plantares

Other structures in this region

• Interosseous membrane of leg
• Obturator membrane
• Distal intertarsal joints (cuneonavicular, cuboideonavicular, intercuneiform and cuneocuboid)
• Triradiate cartilage of the acetabulum
• Hip joint
• Knee joint
• Superior tibiofibular joint
• Tibiofibular syndesmosis (inferior tibiofibular joint)