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Portrait of Tibia

Anatomy · Bones

Tibia

Second longest bone in the body

Lower limb · leg

The tibia, or shin bone, is the larger, medial bone of the leg and the main weight-bearing bone below the knee. It is the second longest bone in the body after the femur. Its sharp anterior border lies just under the skin all the way down the front of the leg, and its lower end forms the inner ankle bump, the medial malleolus.

How to spot them

  • ▸Stout, triangular-shaped shaft on the inner (medial) side of the leg, with a sharp front edge (the shin) under the skin
  • ▸Expanded upper end with two flat condyles and a central intercondylar eminence, meeting the femur
  • ▸A tibial tuberosity at the front near the top where the patellar ligament attaches
  • ▸Lower end drawn down into the medial malleolus, with a groove (fibular notch) for the fibula

What to know

The second longest bone of the body, and the main weight-bearer of the leg

Tibia — the shin bone.

Its sharp front edge lies immediately under the skin, which makes fractures of it often open

Tibia — the anterior border, the 'shin'.

A bony bump at the front near the top receives the tendon from the knee; inflammation of its growth plate in active adolescents is named after Osgood and Schlatter

Tibia — the tibial tuberosity; Osgood–Schlatter disease.

Its upper end has two flat surfaces separated by a central spine to which the cruciate ligaments attach

Tibia — the condyles and intercondylar eminence.

Its lower end forms the bump on the inner side of the ankle, one of the three surfaces that hold the ankle bone in a mortise

Tibia — the medial malleolus.

Its Latin name is that of a flute or pipe

Tibia — Latin tibia, pipe or flute.

A crushing fracture of its lower end into the ankle, named for a French word for a pestle, is caused by a fall from height

Tibia — the pilon fracture.

Key ideas

  • Weight passes from the femur through the tibia to the talus; the fibula carries little weight.
  • The tibia has a triangular cross-section in its shaft, with the anterior border, medial surface and lateral border.

Quick-fire facts

  • •It is the medial bone of the leg, larger than the fibula, and the second longest bone in the body.
  • •The medial surface and anterior border lie subcutaneously along the whole length, so can be palpated.
  • •The tibial tuberosity is the attachment of the patellar ligament; Osgood–Schlatter disease is a traction apophysitis there in adolescents, described in 1903 by Robert Osgood in the US and Carl Schlatter in Switzerland.
  • •The intercondylar eminence gives attachment to the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments.
  • •The medial malleolus is the 'little hammer' forming the inner ankle bump.
  • •A tibial plateau fracture involves the flat upper surface; a pilon fracture the lower articular surface.
  • •The tibia is the most commonly fractured long bone, and open fractures are common because of its subcutaneous position.
  • •Shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome) is pain along the medial border of the tibia.

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Sources