Spinal anatomy
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Tim Luijkx had no recorded disclosures.
View Tim Luijkx's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Daniel MacManus had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Daniel MacManus's current disclosures- Spine anatomy
- Anatomy of the spine
- Vertebral column anatomy
- Anatomy of the vertebral column
Spinal anatomy encompasses the anatomy of all osseous and soft tissue structures of the spine, the spinal cord and its supporting structures.
This anatomy section promotes the use of the Terminologia Anatomica, the international standard of anatomical nomenclature.
Overview
The spine is located in the midline posteriorly, extending from the base of the skull to the natal cleft, supporting the head, shoulder girdle, and rib cage, and attaching to the pelvis.
It comprises 24 vertebrae separated by intervertebral discs, with additional sacral and coccygeal segments, which are usually, but variably, fused.
The vertebrae are grouped together into groups based on similar osteology and regional relations:
cervical spine (7 vertebrae)
thoracic spine (12 vertebrae)
lumbar spine (5 vertebrae)
the sacrum has five fused vertebral segments, and the coccyx has a further 3 to 5 vertebral segments.
The spinal cord descends in the vertebrae within the spinal canal.
Incoming Links
- Degenerated disc
- Traumatic spinal cord injury
- Coccyx
- Anatomy curriculum
- Sacrospinous ligament
- Vertebra
- Mediastinum
- Trauma
- Tarlov cyst
- Thoracic spine
- Focal nodular marrow hyperplasia
- Scoliosis
- Spinal canal
- Langerhans cell histiocytosis (skeletal manifestations)
- Cerebral manifestations of mucopolysaccharidoses
- Projection fibres of the brain
- Pelvic digit
- Sacrum
- Osteogenesis imperfecta
- Axial skeleton
- Butterfly vertebra
- Normal lumbar spine radiographs - annotated
- Caudal regression syndrome
- Chance fracture
- Normal MRI whole spine
- Normal MRI spine
- Focal upper thoracic scoliosis
- Lateral spine anatomy (Gray's illustration)
- Typical cervical vertebra (Gray's illustration)
- Spinal dysraphism with cord lipoma
- Normal full length spine MRI
Related articles: Anatomy: Spine
-
osteology
- vertebrae
- spinal canal
- cervical spine
- thoracic spine
- lumbar spine
- sacrum
- coccyx
- anatomical variants
- ossification centers
- intervertebral disc[+][+]
- articulations[+][+]
- ligaments[+][+]
- musculature of the vertebral column[+][+]
- muscles of the neck
- muscles of the back
-
suboccipital muscle group
- rectus capitis posterior major muscle
- rectus capitis posterior minor muscle
- obliquus capitis superior muscle
- obliquus capitis inferior muscle
- splenius capitis muscle
- splenius cervicis muscle
- erector spinae group
- transversospinalis group
- quadratus lumborum muscle
-
suboccipital muscle group
- spinal meninges and spaces[+][+]
-
spinal cord[+][+]
- gross anatomy
-
white matter tracts (white matter)
- corticospinal tract
- anterolateral columns
- lateral columns
-
dorsal columns
- fasiculus gracilis (column of Goll)
- fasiculus cuneatus (column of Burdach)
- grey matter
- nerve root
- central canal
- functional anatomy
- spinal cord blood supply
- sympathetic chain[+][+]
Related articles: Anatomy: General
- anatomic position
-
anatomic nomenclature
-
Terminologia Anatomica
- superseded nomenclature
-
Terminologia Anatomica
- anatomic variants
- labeled imaging anatomy cases
- regional anatomy
- systems anatomy
- endocrine system
- lymphatic system
- reticuloendothelial system
- nervous system
- systems based on location
- systems based on function
- somatic nervous system
-
autonomic nervous system
- sympathetic nervous system
- parasympathetic nervous system
-
autonomic ganglia and plexuses
- craniofacial
- cervical
- thoracic
- abdominopelvic
- coccygeal
- histology
- osteology
- skeleton
- bones
- macroscopic structure
- microscopic structure
- bone growth
- fetal bone formation
- developmental ossification
- tubulation
- bone types
- nutrient foramen
- joints
- muscles
- organs
- embryology
- skin
- blood vessels
Related articles: Anatomy: Radiological
The anatomy section is organized into seven expandable chapters based on regional body systems:
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