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| Malleolus | |
|---|---|
 Coronal cross-section through the right ankle showing thelateral malleolus (right) andmedial malleolus (left) | |
 The left leg, with themedial malleolus labeled at bottom right. | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | malleolus |
| TA98 | A02.5.07.014 |
| TA2 | 1442 |
| FMA | 35502 |
| Anatomical terms of bone | |
Amalleolus is the bony prominence on each side of the humanankle.
Each leg is supported by two bones, thetibia on the inner side (medial) of the leg and thefibula on the outer side (lateral) of the leg. Themedial malleolus is the prominence on the inner side of the ankle, formed by the lower end of the tibia. Thelateral malleolus is the prominence on the outer side of the ankle, formed by the lower end of the fibula.
The wordmalleolus (/məˈliːələs,mæ-/[1][2]), pluralmalleoli (/məˈliːəˌlaɪ,mæ-/), comes from Latin and means "smallhammer". (It iscognate withmallet.)
The medial malleolus is found at the foot end of thetibia. The medial surface of thelower extremity of tibia is prolonged downward to form a strong pyramidalprocess, flattened from without inward - the medial malleolus.
The major structure that passes anterior to the medial malleolus is the saphenous vein.
Structures that pass behind medial malleolus deep to theflexor retinaculum:
The lateral malleolus is found at the foot end of thefibula, of a pyramidal form, and somewhat flattened from side to side; it descends to a lower level than the medial malleolus.
A major structure that is located between the lateral malleolus and the Achilles tendon is the sural nerve.
Abimalleolar fracture is afracture of theankle that involves thelateral malleolus and themedial malleolus. Studies have shown[3] that bimalleolar fractures are more common in women, people over 60 years of age, and patients with existing comorbidities.[3]
Atrimalleolar fracture is afracture of theankle that involves thelateral malleolus, themedial malleolus, and the distal posterior aspect of thetibia, which can be termed theposterior malleolus. The trauma is sometimes accompanied byligament damage and dislocation.[4]
This article incorporates text in thepublic domain frompage 5 of the 20th edition ofGray's Anatomy(1918)
