Anatomy study note · Pelvis

Coccyx

Four fused rudimentary vertebrae forming a small triangular bone below the sacrum.

Key points

• 4 fused vertebrae.
• Cornua articulate with the sacral cornua.
• Coccydynia after a fall; palpable per rectum.
• Vertebra = caudal half of one sclerotome + cranial half of the next.
• Spina bifida: neural arch halves fail to fuse.
• Bone: type I collagen + hydroxyapatite.
• Osteoblast builds, osteocyte maintains, osteoclast resorbs.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Articulations · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 8, PDF pp. 1020, 1029, 1040
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF pp. 134–137, 136
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 121–125, 130

More from the pelvis

• Hip bone
• Internal iliac artery
• Internal iliac vein
• Levator ani
• Ligaments of the uterus
• Obturator internus
• Obturator membrane
• Obturator nerve
• Ovary
• Pelvic lymph nodes
• Piriformis
• Prostate

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