Fibrous joint

Fibrous joints are connected by dense connective tissue, consisting

Fibrous joint
mainly of collagen. These are fixed joints where bones are united by a
layer of white fibrous tissue of varying thickness. In the skull the joints
between the bones are called sutures. Such immovable joints are also
referred to as synarthroses.

Fibrous joints
Contents
Details
Types
Identifiers
Sutures
Types of sutures Latin Articulatio fibrosa, junctura
List of sutures fibrosa
Visible from the side
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Visible from the front or above
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Visible from below or inside
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Gallery
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Syndesmosis
20EN.htm)
Diagnosis of a syndesmotic injury
Syndesmotic tear FMA 7492 (https://bioportal.bioontolog
Gomphosis y.org/ontologies/FMA/?p=classes
&conceptid=http%3A%2F%2Fpu
References
rl.org%2Fsig%2Font%2Ffma%2
External links
Ffma7492)
Anatomical terminology
Types
Most fibrous joints are also called "fixed" or "immovable". These joints have no joint cavity and are connected via
fibrous connective tissue.

The skull bones are connected by fibrous joints called sutures.[1] In fetal skulls the sutures are wide to allow slight
movement during birth. They later become rigid (synarthrodial).

Some of the long bones in the body such as the radius and ulna in the forearm are joined by a syndesmosis (along the
interosseous membrane). Syndemoses are slightly moveable (amphiarthrodial). The distal tibiofibular joint is another
example.

A gomphosis is a joint between the root of a tooth and the socket in the maxilla or mandible (jawbones).[2]

Sutures
A suture is a type of fibrous joint that is only found in the skull (cranial suture). The bones are bound together by
Sharpey's fibres. A tiny amount of movement is permitted at sutures, which contributes to the compliance and
elasticity of the skull. These joints are synarthroses.[1] It is normal for many of the bones of the skull to remain
unfused at birth. The fusion of the skull's bones at birth is known as craniosynostosis. The term "fontanelle" is used to
describe the resulting "soft spots". The relative positions of the bones continue to change during the life of the adult
(though less rapidly), which can provide useful information in forensics and archaeology. In old age, cranial sutures
may ossify (turn to bone) completely.[3] The joints between the teeth and
jaws (gomphoses) and the joint between the mandible and the cranium,
the temporomandibular joint, form the only non-sutured joints in the
skull.

Types of sutures
Plane sutures – edges of the bones are flush with each other as in a
normal butt joint
Limbous sutures – edges are bevelled so the plane of the suture is
sloping as in a mitre joint
Schindylesis – formed by two bones fitting into each other similar to a Side view of the skull
bridle joint
Denticulate sutures – the edges
slot into each other as in a finger
joint
Serrate sutures – similar to a
denticulate suture but the
interlocking regions are serrated
rather than square.

List of sutures
Most sutures are named for the bones
they articulate, but some have special
names of their own.

Visible from the side

Coronal suture – between the

frontal and parietal bones
Lambdoid suture – between the Human skull side sutures right
parietal and occipital bones and
continuous with the
occipitomastoid suture
Occipitomastoid suture – between the occipital and
temporal bones and continuous with the lambdoid
suture
Sphenofrontal suture
Sphenoparietal suture
Sphenosquamosal suture
Sphenozygomatic suture
Squamosal suture – between the parietal and the
temporal bone
Zygomaticotemporal suture
Zygomaticofrontal suture

Visible from the front or above

Frontal suture / Metopic suture – between the two

frontal bones, prior to the fusion of the two into a
single bone
Sagittal suture – along the midline, between parietal
bones
Cranial sutures viewed from top of head

Visible from below or inside

 Frontoethmoidal suture
Petrosquamous suture
Sphenoethmoidal suture
Sphenopetrosal suture

Gallery

Lambdoid suture Coronal suture Squamosal suture Zygomaticotemporal

suture

Sagittal suture. Sagittal suture. Sagittal suture. Top view of cranial

suture.

Syndesmosis
A syndesmosis is a slightly movable fibrous joint in which bones such as the tibia and fibula are joined together by
connective tissue. An example is the distal tibiofibular joint. Injuries to the ankle syndesmosis are commonly known as
a "high ankle sprain". Although the syndesmosis is a joint, in the literature the term syndesmotic injury is used to
describe injury of the syndesmotic ligaments. It comes from the Greek σύν, syn (meaning "with") and δεσμός, desmos
(meaning "a band").[4] Syndesmosis sprains have received increasing recognition during recent years because of a
heightened awareness of the mechanism, symptoms, and signs of injury.[5]

Diagnosis of a syndesmotic injury

Diagnosis of syndesmosis injuries by physical examination is often straightforward. Physical examination findings that
are often positive include the squeeze test and the external rotation test. Patients with high-grade syndesmosis injuries
often cannot perform a single-leg heel raise. Patients report pain in varying degrees over the anterior and often
posterior distal fibular joint.[6]

Syndesmotic tear
The severity of acute syndesmosis injury is rated from grade I to III by several authors. A grade I injury is a partial
anteroinferior tibiofibular ligament tear, meaning the exorotation and squeeze tests are negative for this grade. Grade
II injury is a complete anteroinferior tibiofibular ligament and inferior interossesus ligament tear, meaning that
squeeze test and exorotation are positive. This results in the injury being stabilized with immobilization but not
operatively stabilized. A grade III injury is a complete anteroinferior tibiofibular ligament tear including a (partial)
interosseous ligament tear and deltoid ligament avulsion, meaning the joint is unstable and positive on the exorotation
and squeeze tests. This grade requires operative stabilization.[7] If the syndesmosis is torn apart as result of bone
fracture, surgeons will sometimes fix the relevant bones together with a syndesmotic screw, temporarily replacing the
syndesmosis, or with a tightrope fixation, which is called Syndesmosis Procedure.[8][9] The screw inhibits normal
movement of the bones and, thereby, the corresponding joint(s). When the natural articulation is healed, the screw
may be removed. The tightrope fixation with elastic fiberwire suture on the other hand allows physiologic motion of
the ankle and may be permanent.

Gomphosis
A gomphosis, also known as a dentoalveolar syndesmosis,[10] is a
joint that binds the teeth to bony teeth sockets in the maxillary bone
and mandible. The fibrous connection between a tooth and its socket is
a periodontal ligament. Specifically, the connection is made between
the maxilla or mandible to the cementum of the tooth.

The motion of a gomphosis is minimal, though considerable movement

can be achieved over time—the basis of using braces to realign teeth.
The joint can be considered a synarthrosis.[11]

The gomphosis is the only joint-type in which a bone does not join The teeth, viewed from the right
another bone, as teeth are not technically bone. In modern, more
anatomical, joint classification, the gomphosis is simply considered a
fibrous joint because the tissue linking the structures is ligamentous.

A gomphosis is a specialized fibrous joint in which a conical process or peg of one bone fits into a hole or socket in
another bone. (gomphos is a Greek word meaning bolt). Small quantity of fibrous tissue holds the bones together. No
movement is possible at such peg-and-socket joints.

References
1. "Module – Introduction to Joints" (https://web.archive.org/web/20071217080425/http://anatomy.med.umich.edu/m
odules/joints_module/joints_05.html). Archived from the original (http://anatomy.med.umich.edu/modules/joints_m
odule/joints_05.html) on 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
2. Tomco, Rachel. "Fibrous Joints" (https://archive.is/20130116232536/http://www.anatomyone.com/a/fibrous-
joints/). AnatomyOne. Amirsys, Inc. Archived from the original (http://www.anatomyone.com/a/fibrous-joints/) on
2013-01-16. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
3. Harth, Sebastian; Obert, Martin; Ramsthaler, Frank; Reuss, Christina; Traupe, Horst; Verhoff, Marcel (2009).
"Estimating age by assessing the ossification degree of cranial sutures with the aid of Flat-Panel-CT". Legal
Medicine (Tokyo). 11 (Supp.1): S186–S189. doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2009.01.091 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.leg
almed.2009.01.091). PMID 19261532 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19261532).
4. Dr. M. A. (Toby) Arnold; Deborah Bryce. "Arnold's Glossary of Anatomy" (http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/glossar
y/). The University of Sydney.
5. Jones, MH; Amendola, A. "Syndesmosis sprains of the ankle". Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007, p.173-75.
6. Johnson, Darren L, MD; Metzler, Adam V, MD. "Dynamically Unstable Syndesmosis Injuries". Slack Incorporated,
2013, p.209-11.
7. Valkering, Kars P, MD; Vergroesen, Diederik, A, MD; Nolte, Peter A, MD, PhD. "Isolated Syndesmosis Ankle
Injury". Slack Incorporated, 2012, p.e1705-10.
 8. "Screw vs. tightrope fixation for syndesmotic fractures" (http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/may08/clinical4.asp).
www.aaos.org.
9. "Arthrex - TightRope®" (http://www.arthrex.com/foot-ankle/tightrope). www.arthrex.com.
10. "dentoalveolar syndesmosis" (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/dentoalveolar+syndesmosis).
TheFreeDictionary.com.
11. "Articulations" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070104013254/http://commons.bcit.ca/biology/articulations/synarthr
otic.html). Archived from the original (http://commons.bcit.ca/biology/articulations/synarthrotic.html) on 2007-01-
04. Retrieved 2008-01-29.

External links
https://web.archive.org/web/20070104013319/http://commons.bcit.ca/biology/articulations/fibrous.html

MedlinePlus Encyclopedia 002320 (https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002320.htm)

Age at Death Estimation from Cranial Suture Closures (https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocitie
s.com/xerexes/Cranial_sutures.html&date=2009-10-26+00:22:53)
Cranial suture closure and its implications for age estimation (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oa.139004
0304/abstract)
https://web.archive.org/web/20070104013319/http://commons.bcit.ca/biology/articulations/fibrous.html

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fibrous_joint&oldid=896950525#Sutures"

This page was last edited on 13 May 2019, at 21:06 (UTC).

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