Medial arcuate ligament

Medial arcuate ligament
The diaphragm. Under surface. (Med. arcuate ligament visible at bottom center left.)
Details
Identifiers
Latin	ligamentum arcuatum mediale
TA98	A04.4.02.006
TA2	2334, 2349
FMA	58282
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

The medial arcuate ligament (also medial lumbocostal arch and internal arcuate ligament) is a tendinous fascia that arches over the psoas major muscle as it passes posterior the diaphragm.

Structure

The medial arcuate ligament is an arch in the fascia covering the upper part of the psoas major. It is attached to the side of the body of the first or second lumbar vertebra, laterally, it is fixed to the front of the transverse process of the first and, sometimes also, to that of the second lumbar vertebra.

It lies between the lateral arcuate ligament and the midline median arcuate ligament.

The sympathetic chain enters the abdomen by passing deep into this ligament of the diaphragm. This is in contrast to the parasympathetic vagus nerve which passes through the esophageal hiatus.

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 404 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

External links

• Anatomy figure: 40:04-04 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
• posteriorabdomen at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (posteriorabdmus&nerves)

This ligament-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e