Anatomy study note · Lower limb

Knee joint

The largest and most complicated joint in the body: two condylar joints between the femoral and tibial condyles (with the menisci) and a gliding joint between the patella and femur. The fibula takes no part.

Key points

• Hinge + rotation; patellofemoral gliding.
• MCL flat, attached to the medial meniscus; LCL cordlike, free of the lateral meniscus.
• Locking: femur medially rotates; unlocking: popliteus.
• Suprapatellar bursa communicates with the joint.
• Quadriceps tone = main stabilizer.
• Joint: from mesenchyme between bone ends.
• Synovial cavity forms in the middle layer.
• Synovial membrane: type A (phagocytic) + type B (secretory) cells.
• Joint surfaces: hyaline cartilage, no perichondrium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Action · Nerve supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 1396–1409
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF p. 144
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 117–120, 131

More from the lower limb

• Menisci of the knee
• Metatarsal bones
• Patella
• Pectineus
• Phalanges of the foot
• Plantar aponeurosis
• Plantar arteries
• Plantar nerves
• Plantaris
• Popliteal artery
• Popliteal lymph nodes
• Popliteal vein

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