The costotransverse joint is the

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...

formed between the facet of the tubercle of the rib and the adjacent

transverse process The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic i ...

of a

thoracic The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...

vertebra The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...

. The costotransverse joint is a plane type of synovial joint which, under physiological conditions, allows only gliding movement. This costotransverse joint is present in all but the

eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...

and twelfth

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...

s. The first ten ribs have two joints in close proximity posteriorly; the

costovertebral joint The costovertebral joints are the joints that connect the ribs to the vertebral column. The articulation of the head of the rib connects the head of the rib to the bodies of the thoracic vertebrae. Structure The costotransverse joint connects th ...

s and the costotransverse joints. This arrangement restrains the motion of the ribs allowing them to work in a parallel fashion during

breathing Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...

. If a typical rib had only one joint posteriorly the resultant swivel action would allow a rib to be non-parallel with respect to the neighboring ribs making for a very inefficient breathing. The

intercostal nerves The intercostal nerves are part of the somatic nervous system, and arise from the anterior rami of the thoracic spinal nerves from T1 to T11. The intercostal nerves are distributed chiefly to the thoracic pleura and abdominal peritoneum, and diffe ...

innervate the costotransverse joints. Therefore, therapeutic medial branch blocks are ineffectual. The ligaments of the joint are: *

Articular capsule In anatomy, a joint capsule or articular capsule is an envelope surrounding a synovial joint.Costotransverse ligament A costotransverse ligament is a short fibrous band that connects a rib with the transverse process of vertebra. They are some of the ligaments that surround the costovertebral joint. Types There are three types of costotransverse ligaments in the ...

** Posterior costotransverse ligament ** Lateral costotransverse ligament ** Superior costotransverse ligament ** Inferior costotransverse ligament ** The costotransverse ligament * Ligament of neck of rib * Ligament of tubercle of rib

References

External links

{{Authority control Joints Thorax (human anatomy)