The joints of the spine allow the union between the bodies of the adjacent vertebrae and the joints between the adjacent vertebral arches.
There are two types of joints in the neck that are the subject of special attention because they are different from other joints.: the atlantooccipitals and the atlantoaxial ones in the upper cervical region.
These joints are located between the first two cervical vertebrae and the skull., allow a greater degree of movement than in the rest of the spine.
Vertebrae also articulate with the ribs and hip bones.
Index
Atlantooccipital joints: Join the head and the atlas
They are synovial joints located between the occipital condyles and the superior articular surfaces of the lateral masses of the atlas.
We have two atlantooccipital joints, that allow to seat with the head (up and down movement).
Held in place by anterior and posterior atlanto-occipital membranes, that help prevent excessive movement of the joints.
Atlantoaxial joints: Join the atlas and axis
The three atlantoaxial joints are also synovial joints.
One lies between the tooth (odontoid process) of the axis (second cervical vertebra) and the anterior arch of the atlas (first cervical vertebra), and the other two are between the lateral masses of the first cervical vertebra and the superior facet joints of the second cervical vertebra.
The next four ligaments stabilize these joints:
- Apical ligament: Connect the tooth (odontoid process) to the foramen magnum of the occipital bone
- alar ligaments: Connect the tooth (odontoid process) to the lateral margins of the foramen magnum
- Cruciform or cruciform ligament: Surround the tooth (odontoid process) to the anterior arch of the atlas and the body of the axis to the foramen magnum of the occipital bone
- stucco: It begins in the skull and becomes the posterior longitudinal ligament
Intervertebral joints: They bind other vertebrae together.
They are the ones that connect the adjacent vertebrae, include both synovial joints, as cartilaginous.
Synovial Intervertebral Joints: They lie between the superior and inferior facets of the adjacent vertebral arches., and are supported by the following ligaments:
- The interspinous ligament extends between the spinous processes.
- The supraspinatus ligament connects the tips of the spinous processes and forms the strong nuchal ligament that passes behind the cervical spine.
- Intertransverse ligaments connect adjacent transverse processes, and the yellow ligament connects the laminae of the adjacent vertebrae.
Cartilaginous intervertebral joints: They are fibrocartilaginous joints that are formed between the adjacent vertebral bodies with the fibrocartilaginous intervertebral discs located between the bodies..
Each disc is made up of a jelly-like mass, nucleus pulposus, which is surrounded by the annulus fibrosus (which is made up of harder fibrous layers)
The anterior and posterior longitudinal ligaments run along the anterior and posterior surfaces of the vertebral bodies from the skull to the sacrum.. These help stabilize the spine.
Sacrum joints
The sacrum articulates with the hip bones to form the sacroiliac joints.. The superior surface of the sacrum has two superior facets that articulate with the inferior articular processes of the fifth lumbar vertebra..
It is formed between the coccyx and the sacrum. Has an intervertebral disc and is stabilized by sacrococcygeal ligaments.
