Sixth rib at a glance
- Also called
- Rib 6
- What it is
- The sixth rib. A typical rib.
- Location
- Part of the thoracic cage, curving from the sixth 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
- FMA8202 (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.
- Rectus abdominis inserts on the fifth to seventh costal cartilages, and the internal thoracic artery divides into its terminal branches at the sixth intercostal space.
Clinical relevance
The middle ribs are the most commonly fractured ribs.
Structures next to the sixth rib
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Fifth rib · skeletal
- Seventh rib · skeletal
- Circumflex branch of coronary artery · cardiovascular
- Inferior lingular bronchial tree · respiratory
- Posterior vein of ventricle · cardiovascular
- Inferior pulmonary vein · cardiovascular
- Posterior leaflet of mitral valve · cardiovascular
- Serratus anterior · muscular
- Great cardiac vein · cardiovascular
- Superior lingular bronchial tree · respiratory
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Sixth rib (FMA8202). 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.