Fifth rib at a glance
- Also called
- Rib 5
- What it is
- The fifth rib. A typical rib.
- Location
- Part of the thoracic cage, curving from the fifth thoracic vertebra behind around the chest wall toward the front. A true rib.
- Function
- Protects the thoracic organs and, by moving at its vertebral joints, changes chest volume during breathing.
- Body system
- Skeletal · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA8093 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Typical rib: the head has two facets articulating with its own vertebra and the one above, and the tubercle articulates with the transverse process; the costal groove along the lower border protects the intercostal vessels and nerve.
- The apex beat of the heart is felt in the fifth intercostal space, just below this rib, in the midclavicular line.
- External oblique begins on the outer surfaces of ribs 5–12.
Clinical relevance
The middle ribs are the most commonly fractured ribs.
Structures next to the fifth rib
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Circumflex branch of coronary artery · cardiovascular
- Superior pulmonary vein · cardiovascular
- Superior lingular bronchial tree · respiratory
- Inferior lingular bronchial tree · respiratory
- Great cardiac vein · cardiovascular
- Sixth rib · skeletal
- Fourth rib · skeletal
- Posterior leaflet of mitral valve · cardiovascular
- Pulmonary artery · cardiovascular
- Cavity of ventricle · cardiovascular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Fifth rib (FMA8093). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.