Medial collateral ligament of the knee

Last revised by Dr Henry Knipe ◉ ◈ on 13 Sep 2021

Citation, DOI and article data

Citation:

Su, S., Knipe, H. Medial collateral ligament of the knee. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org. (accessed on 25 Oct 2021) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-31366

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-31366

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/31366

rID:

31366

Article created:

03 Oct 2014 by Dr Shu Su ◈

Revisions:

18 times by 8 users - see full revision history

System:

Musculoskeletal

Section:

Anatomy

Tag:

knee

Synonyms:

Mid-third capsular ligament
Certical component of the medial collateral ligament
Vertical component of the MCL
Deep medial collateral ligament
Deep MCL (dMCL)
Superficial medial collateral ligament
Superficial MCL (sMCL)
Tibial collateral ligament
Medial femoral collateral ligament
MCL

The medial collateral ligament (MCL) of the knee is a flat, triangular band on its medial aspect that resists valgus forces. It forms part of the medial capsuloligamentous complex of the knee.

The superficial MCL, also known as a tibial collateral ligament or vertical component of the MCL, is part of the middle layer of the medial capsuloligamentous complex of the knee. Its proximal attachment is the posterosuperior aspect of the medial femoral epicondyle, anteroinferior to the adductor tubercle. Distally it has two insertion sites at the upper medial surface of the tibia ^1-5:

anterior band of the semimembranosus tendon (principally a soft tissue attachment)
tibial periosteum posterior to the pes anserine attachment

The posterior aspect of the medial collateral ligament blends into the posterior oblique ligament and knee capsule.

Deep MCL

The deep MCL, also known as the mid-third capsular ligament, is part of the deep layer of the medial capsuloligamentous complex of the knee, and is a thickening of the medial joint capsule, and is divided into meniscofemoral and meniscotibial ligaments ^4,5.