Anatomy study note · Back
Ligaments of the vertebral column
The bands that hold the vertebrae together while allowing small movements between them: the longitudinal ligaments on the vertebral bodies, and the ligaments joining the vertebral arches.
Key points
- Anterior longitudinal: broad, strong, front of bodies and discs.
- Posterior longitudinal: narrow, weaker, back of bodies; resists flexion.
- Arch ligaments: supraspinous, interspinous, intertransverse, ligamentum flavum (laminae).
- Ligamentum nuchae = thickened supra- and interspinous ligaments in the neck (C7 → external occipital protuberance).
- Lumbar puncture order: supraspinous → interspinous → flavum → epidural space → dura → arachnoid.
- Interspinous/intertransverse ligaments: like the discs, from sclerotomes.
- Ligament/tendon: dense regular CT — parallel collagen bundles.
The full note in the atlas also covers
Features · Nerve supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes
Sign in free to see it on the 3D model, read the full note and practise questions on it.
Written from
- Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 2, PDF pp. 145–148, 185–188
- Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF p. 135
- BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 6, PDF pp. 110–111
More from the back
- Lumbar vertebrae
- Spinal cord
- Spinal nerves
- Suboccipital muscles
- Thoracic vertebrae
- Thoracolumbar fascia
- Vertebral column
- Atlas (C1)
- Axis (C2)
- Cervical vertebrae
- Deep muscles of the back
- Intervertebral discs
Privacy policy · Designed by DATXOC LLC.