Ligament · Ankle

Anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament

A flat oblique band on the front of the ankle joining the lower end of the shin bone to the lower end of the fibula, running downward and outward between them. It is one of the ligaments of the syndesmosis — the fibrous joint binding the two leg bones together just above the ankle — and it is the front one. What it resists is easiest to picture from the shape of the talus beneath: the top of that bone is wider in front than behind, so as the foot is pulled upward the wider part is driven up between the two leg bones and pushes them apart. This is the band, with its partners, that holds them together against it.