Anatomy study note · Upper limb

Sternoclavicular joint

The only joint linking the upper limb to the axial skeleton: between the sternal end of the clavicle, the manubrium and the first costal cartilage.

Key points

• Only bony link of the limb to the trunk.
• Synovial double-plane joint with an articular disc (2 compartments).
• Costoclavicular ligament = main stabiliser.
• Posterior dislocation is dangerous (trachea, oesophagus, great vessels).
• Joint: from mesenchyme between bone ends.
• Synovial cavity forms in the middle layer.
• SC joint: contains fibrocartilage.
• Synovial membrane: type A (phagocytic) + type B (secretory) cells.

The full note in the atlas also covers

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

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 395–398
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF p. 144
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 117–120, 120, 131

More from the upper limb

• Subclavius
• Subscapular nerves
• Subscapularis
• Supinator
• Suprascapular nerve
• Supraspinatus
• Supratrochlear (cubital) lymph node
• Teres major
• Teres minor
• Thenar muscles
• Thoracodorsal nerve
• Trapezius

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