The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the medial side : the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth metatarsal. The metatarsals are analogous to the metacarpal bones of the hand. The lengths of the metatarsal bones in humans are, in descending order: second, third, fourth, fifth and first.
In human anatomy, the dorsalis pedis artery, is a blood vessel of the lower limb that carries oxygenated blood to the dorsal surface of the foot. It is located 1/3 from medial malleolus. It arises at the anterior aspect of the ankle joint and is a continuation of the anterior tibial artery. It terminates at the proximal part of the first intermetatarsal space, where it divides into two branches, the first dorsal metatarsal artery and the deep plantar artery. The dorsalis pedis communicates with the plantar blood supply of the foot through the deep plantar artery.
In human anatomy, the dorsal interossei of the foot are four muscles situated between the metatarsal bones.
The Adductor hallucis arises by two heads—oblique and transverse and is responsible for adducting the big toe. It has two heads, both are innervated by the lateral plantar nerve.
In human anatomy, plantar interossei muscles are three muscles located between the metatarsal bones in the foot.
The arches of the foot, formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones, strengthened by ligaments and tendons, allow the foot to support the weight of the body in the erect posture with the least weight.
The lateral plantar artery, much larger than the medial, passes obliquely lateralward and forward to the base of the fifth metatarsal bone.
The plantar metatarsal arteries are four in number, arising from the convexity of the plantar arch. They run forward between the metatarsal bones and in contact with the Interossei. They are located in the fourth layer of the foot.
The medial plantar artery, much smaller than the lateral plantar artery, passes forward along the medial side of the foot.
The deep plantar artery descends into the sole of the foot, between the two heads of the first Interosseous dorsalis, and unites with the termination of the lateral plantar artery, to complete the plantar arch.
The transverse metatarsal ligament is a narrow band which runs across and connects together the heads of all the metatarsal bones; it is blended anteriorly with the plantar (glenoid) ligaments of the metatarsophalangeal articulations.
Intermetatarsal joints - The base of the first metatarsal is not connected with that of the second by any ligaments; in this respect the great toe resembles the thumb.
The plantar arch is a circulatory anastomosis formed from:
On the dorsum of the foot the dorsal digital veins receive, in the clefts between the toes, the intercapitular veins from the plantar venous arch and join to form short common digital veins which unite across the distal ends of the metatarsal bones in a dorsal venous arch.
The four plantar metatarsal veins run backward in the metatarsal spaces, communicate, by means of perforating veins, with the veins on the dorsum of the foot, and unite to form the plantar venous arch which lies alongside the plantar arterial arch.
The fifth metatarsal bone is a long bone in the foot, and is palpable along the distal outer edges of the feet. It is the second smallest of the five metatarsal bones. The fifth metatarsal is analogous to the fifth metacarpal bone in the hand
The arcuate artery of the foot gives off the second, third, and fourth dorsal metatarsal arteries, which run forward upon the corresponding Interossei dorsales; in the clefts between the toes, each divides into two dorsal digital branches for the adjoining toes.
In the human foot, the plantar or volar plates are fibrocartilaginous structures found in the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) and interphalangeal (IP) joints. The anatomy and composition of the plantar plates are similar to the palmar plates in the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and interphalangeal joints in the hand; the proximal origin is thin but the distal insertion is stout. Due to the weight-bearing nature of the human foot, the plantar plates are exposed to extension forces not present in the human hand.
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Gray's Anatomy is an English language textbook of human anatomy originally written by Henry Gray and illustrated by Henry Vandyke Carter. Earlier editions were called Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical, Anatomy of the Human Body and Gray's Anatomy: Descriptive and Applied, but the book's name is commonly shortened to, and later editions are titled, Gray's Anatomy. The book is widely regarded as an extremely influential work on the subject, and has continued to be revised and republished from its initial publication in 1858 to the present day. The latest edition of the book, the 41st, was published in September 2015.
