The transverse acetabular ligament (transverse ligament or Tunstall’s ligament) is a portion of the
acetabular labrum
The acetabular labrum (glenoidal labrum of the hip joint or cotyloid ligament in older texts) is a ring of cartilage that surrounds the acetabulum of the hip. The anterior portion is most vulnerable when the labrum tears.
It provides an articulat ...
, though differing from it in having no
cartilage
Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...
cells among its fibers.
It consists of strong, flattened fibers, which cross the
acetabular notch
The acetabular notch is a deep notch in the acetabulum of the hip bone. The acetabular notch is continuous with a circular non-articular depression, the acetabular fossa, at the bottom of the cavity: this depression is perforated by numerous aper ...
, and convert it into a
through which the
nutrient vessels
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...
enter the joint. It is an intra-articular structure of the
hip
In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint.
The hip region is ...
.
Function
The transverse acetabular ligament prevents inferior displacement of head of
femur
The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...
.
Additional Images
File:Slide2DAD.JPG, Hip joint. Lateral view. Transverse acetabular ligament
File:Slide2DADA.JPG, Hip joint. Lateral view. Transverse acetabular ligament
References
External links
*
Ligaments of the lower limb
{{ligament-stub