Tibia

SkeletalSkeletonLegLeft and right

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What it is

The shin bone: a broad upper end with two flat condyles (the tibial plateau) and the tibial tuberosity, a triangular shaft with a sharp anterior border just under the skin, and a lower end forming the medial malleolus.

Function

Carries almost all the body weight from knee to ankle and forms the roof and inner wall of the ankle joint.

Size

≈ 41 cm long; plateau ≈ 7.5 cm wide

Clinical note

Because its front lies directly under the skin, the tibia is the long bone most often broken open (compound fracture).