Medial ligament of talocrural joint

The medial ligament of talocrural joint (or deltoid ligament) is a strong, flat, triangular band, attached, above, to the apex and anterior and posterior borders of the medial malleolus. The Deltoid ligament is composed of the Anterior Tibiotalar Ligament, Tibiocalcaneal Ligament, Posterior Tibiotalar Ligament, and Tibionavicular Ligament. It consists of two sets of fibres, superficial and deep.

Superficial fibres

Of the superficial fibres,

• the most anterior (tibionavicular) pass forward to be inserted into the tuberosity of the navicular bone, and immediately behind this they blend with the medial margin of the plantar calcaneonavicular ligament;
• the middle (tibiocalcaneal) descend almost perpendicularly to be inserted into the whole length of the sustentaculum tali of the calcaneus;
• the posterior fibres (posterior tibiotalar) pass backward and lateralward to be attached to the inner side of the talus, and to the prominent tubercle on its posterior surface, medial to the groove for the tendon of the Flexor hallucis longus.

Deep fibres

The deep fibres (anterior tibiotalar) are attached, above, to the tip of the medial malleolus, and, below, to the medial surface of the talus.

Coverings

The deltoid ligament is covered by the tendons of the Tibialis posterior and Flexor digitorum longus.

External links

• deltoid+ligament at eMedicine Dictionary
• Duke Orthopedics deltoid_ligament
• lljoints at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (medialanklejoint)
• http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/lahr/LE2000/ankle%20pics/5medankle-new.jpg

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.