Five long bones of the mid-foot, numbered from the big-toe side, the first short and thick and the second the longest
Metatarsal bones — the first is shortest and stoutest, the second longest.
Anatomy · Bones
Metatarsal bones
Five long bones of the mid-foot
Foot · forefoot
The metatarsal bones are the five long bones of the mid-foot, lying between the tarsal bones and the phalanges of the toes. They are numbered one to five from the big-toe side; the first is the shortest and stoutest and the second the longest. Their heads form the ball of the foot, and they carry the load at push-off.
How to spot them
- ▸Five long bones fanning forward from the tarsus, each with a base, shaft and head
- ▸Numbered 1–5 from the big toe; the first is short and thick, the second longest
- ▸The base of the fifth has a large lateral expansion (tuberosity) that can be felt as a bump midway along the outer border of the foot
- ▸Heads rest on the ground as the ball of the foot; each meets the proximal phalanx at a metatarsophalangeal joint
What to know
A fracture at the base of the outermost one was described by a surgeon who injured his own foot while dancing
Metatarsal bones — Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal (Sir Robert Jones, 1902).
A stress fracture of the shaft of the second or third, named for the marching soldiers among whom it was first reported
Metatarsal bones — the march fracture.
Their heads form the ball of the foot and take the load at push-off, and two small sesamoid bones lie beneath the head of the first
Metatarsal bones — the metatarsal heads and sesamoids.
A painful thickening of the nerve between the heads of the third and fourth is named after Morton
Metatarsal bones — Morton's neuroma.
A bunion is a bony prominence on the inner side of the joint where the first of these meets the big toe
Metatarsal bones — hallux valgus at the first metatarsophalangeal joint.
The one at the outer edge has a bump on its base that can be felt midway along the outside of the foot, where a peroneal tendon attaches
Metatarsal bones — the tuberosity of the fifth metatarsal.
Key ideas
- The heads bear weight as the ball of the foot; the first carries the greatest load at push-off, with the two sesamoids beneath it.
- The bases of the first to fourth, together with the cuneiforms, form the transverse arch of the foot.
Quick-fire facts
- •There are five in each foot, 10 in all; together with 7 tarsals and 14 phalanges they make 26 bones in each foot.
- •The first is shorter and thicker than the others; the second is the longest.
- •Jones fracture (Sir Robert Jones, 1902) is a fracture of the base of the fifth; he reported it after injuring his own foot while dancing.
- •The march fracture is a stress fracture of the second or third metatarsal shaft, first described in 1855 in Prussian soldiers by the military surgeon Breithaupt.
- •Morton's neuroma is a thickening of a digital nerve between the heads of the third and fourth metatarsals, causing pain in the ball of the foot.
- •Two sesamoid bones lie in the tendon of flexor hallucis brevis beneath the head of the first metatarsal.
- •The heads rest on the ground as the ball of the foot.
- •The name is from Greek meta, beyond, and tarsos: beyond the tarsus.
Drill it — 7 cards
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Sources
- OpenStax — Anatomy and Physiology 2e — 8.4 Bones of the Lower Limb
- TeachMeAnatomy — Bones of the Lower Limb