The Anatomy and Function of the Deltoid Ligament

Abstract

The deltoid ligament, also known as the medial collateral ligament complex, is a strong, broad ligament with multifascicular appearance that spans out from the medial malleolus toward the talus, calcaneus, and navicular bones. Despite various different anatomic descriptions of the medial ankle ligament complex over the past few years, a separation of the deltoid ligament into a superficial and a deep layer is nowadays widely accepted. The tibiospring, tibionavicular, superficial posterior tibiotalar, and tibiocalcaneal ligaments are components of the superficial portion of the medial collateral ligaments, whereas the deep posterior tibiotalar and deep anterior tibiotalar ligaments are components of the deep portion of the medial collateral ligaments. A further component of the medial collateral ligament is the spring ligament. All of these ligaments are involved in stabilizing the hindfoot as well as in guiding passive joint motion. The purpose of this article was to provide an update of the anatomy of the medial ankle ligament complex with regard to its specific function.