Ligament · Foot

Dorsal tarsometatarsal ligaments

Ligamenta tarsometatarsalia dorsalia

Flat bands on the top of the foot crossing the line where the tarsal bones meet the metatarsals — the joint line named after Lisfranc. Each metatarsal base receives one or more: the first from the medial cuneiform, the second from all three cuneiforms, the third from the lateral cuneiform, the fourth from the lateral cuneiform and the cuboid, and the fifth from the cuboid. That fan of attachments, combined with the second metatarsal base sitting recessed in a mortise between the cuneiforms, is what makes the junction so nearly immobile. It is one of the few places in the body where a joint line is held still by ligament and bone shape working in the same direction.