TRUNK

Vertebral column:
bones, joints, ligaments,
muscles

Chest wall: bones,

joints, muscles

Abdomen and pelvis:

bones, joints, muscles
VERTEBRAL
COLUMN
 Functions
It is the axis of the body, it extends from the
skull to the pelvis through which it unloads the
weight of the body on the lower limbs.

It is formed by the vertebrae, short and

irregular bones, articulated one each other,
which form a long flexible rod, favouring the
mobility of the body.

Protection for the spinal cord

CURVATURES
Lordosis (convex forwards)

Kyphosis (convex dorsally)

The embryonic body appears flexed. It has primary thoracic and
pelvic curves, which are convex dorsally. Functional muscle
development leads to the early appearance of secondary cervical
and lumbar curvatures in the sagittal plane.
In the newborn, the vertebral column has no fixed curvatures. It
is particularly flexible. A slight sacral curvature can be seen. The
thoracic part of the column is the first to develop a relatively
fixed curvature, which is concave anteriorly.
The secondary curvature (cervical and lumbar) becomes
important in maintaining the centre of gravity of the trunk over
the legs when walking starts.
VERTEBRAE: general features
Differences between vertebrae
Cervical vertebrae
C1: Atlas
 Craniovertebral joints
Atlanto-occipital joints (Condyloid joints)
C2: Axis
 Atlanto-axial joints

2 Lateral: gliding joints

Median: hinge joint
Thoracic vertebrae
Lumbar vertebrae
 JOINTS

All vertebrae from C2 to S1 articulate by:

- symphyses between their bodies,
- synovial joints (gliding joints) between their
articular processes
- fibrous joints (syndesmosis, ligaments)
between their laminae, transverse and spinous
processes.
Intervertebral disks: symphyses between vertebral bodies
Intervertebral disks
The thickness of intervertebral
discs varies in different regions and
within individual discs.

In cervical and lumbar regions the

discs are thicker anteriorly

FISIOLOGICAL CURVATURES
Gliding joints between their articular processes
Sacrum and Coccyx
Lumbosacral joint

Sacrococcygeal joint and

Intercoccygeal joints
LIGAMENTS
 MUSCLES

The muscles directly concerned

with vertebral movements and attached to
the column lie mainly posteriorly.

Several large muscles producing major spinal

movements lie distant from the column and
without direct attachment to it.
 MUSCLES
The musculature of the back is arranged in a series of layers, of
which only the deeper are true, intrinsic, back muscles.

The two more superficial

layers consist of muscles for
the upperlimb movements
and the third layer consists of
muscles for the chest
movement.
 The intrinsic muscles are also arranged in layers.
The more superficial layers contain
the splenius muscles in the neck and
upper thorax, and the erector spinae
group in the trunk as a whole.
The deeper layers include the spinotransverse group,
which is itself layered into semispinalis, multifidus and
the rotatores, and the suboccipital muscles.
Deepest of all lie the interspinal and
intertransverse muscles.