Anatomy study note · Thorax
Ribs
Twelve pairs of long, flat, curved bones forming most of the thoracic wall. Ribs 1–7 are true ribs, 8–10 false ribs and 11–12 floating ribs.
Key points
- True 1–7, false 8–10, floating 11–12.
- Head (2 facets), neck, tubercle, shaft, angle, costal groove (VAN below the rib).
- Fractures: at the angle; ribs 5–10 commonest; rare in children.
- Flail chest = paradoxical movement.
- Cervical rib → lower trunk (C8–T1) + subclavian artery compression.
- Ribs: costal processes of the sclerotomes.
- Extra ribs: cervical (C7) or lumbar (L1).
- 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. 4, PDF pp. 479–488
- Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF pp. 136, 138, 140
- BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 121–125, 130
More from the thorax
- Right atrium
- Right coronary artery
- Right ventricle
- Serratus posterior muscles
- Sternum
- Superior vena cava
- Sympathetic trunk
- Thymus
- Trachea
- Tricuspid valve
- Vagus nerve
- Aortic valve
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