Shu-Yuan Li
Chinese PLA General Hospital, China
Title: Ligament Structures in the Tarsal Sinus and Canal
Biography
Biography: Shu-Yuan Li
Abstract
The concrete anatomy of the subtalar ligaments was studied in 32 fresh-frozen cadaver feet. The course of the inferior extensor retinaculum (IER) and other subtalar ligaments was carefully measured, photographed, and described. It was found that the IER inserted inside the tarsal sinus and canal by means of 3 roots: a lateral, an intermediate, and a medial one. These roots, along with the tarsal canal, divided the subtalar space into 3 parts. In front of the IER and inside the tarsal sinus, the thick cervical ligament (CL) lay at a 45-degree angle to the calcaneus. Behind the IER and inside the posterior capsule, in most cases (25 of 32 specimens), the posterior capsular ligament (PCaL) lay directly in front of the posterior talocalcaneal facet. Inside the tarsal canal, the fan-shaped medial root of the IER spread from outside upper lateral to lower medial, and the interosseous talocalcaneal ligament (ITCL) ran from upper medial to lower lateral; fibers of these 2 ligaments blended tightly together to form a V-shaped ligament complex. Just anterior to this complex in some cases (20 of 32 specimens), a short narrow upright ligament, the tarsal canal ligament (TCL), was located behind the middle talocalcaneal joint. This study shows that the CL is the primary ligament in the tarsal sinus and that the ITCL is a thin single band rather than a strong bilaminar ligament located inside the tarsal canal. Instead, the medial root of the IER is the primary ligamentous structure in the tarsal canal.