Skip to content
EasyAnatomyLab
Menu

Interosseous membrane of leg: anatomy, location and function

A broad fibrous sheet joining the tibia and fibula. Holds the bones together, separates leg compartments, and provides muscle attachment.

Loading 3D model…
Skin0%
Muscles100%

Structures

Loading… Click the model or search.

Highlighted in the model: Interosseous membrane of leg. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Interosseous membrane of leg at a glance

What it is
A broad fibrous sheet joining the tibia and fibula.
Location
Stretches between the interosseous borders of the tibia and fibula along the shaft.
Function
Holds the bones together, separates leg compartments, and provides muscle attachment.
Body system
Skeletal · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA35192 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It has an opening above for the anterior tibial vessels.
  • It separates the anterior and posterior compartments; tibialis anterior and tibialis posterior arise partly from its two surfaces.
  • The perforating branch of the fibular artery passes through it near the ankle.

Structures next to the interosseous membrane of leg

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Interosseous membrane of leg (FMA35192). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. 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.