Nuchal ligament
ligament at the back of the neck
The nuchal ligament is a ligament at the back of the neck that is continuous with the supraspinous ligament.
Structure
The nuchal ligament extends from the external occipital protuberance on the skull and median nuchal line to the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra in the lower part of the neck.
From the anterior border of the nuchal ligament, a fibrous lamina is given off. This is attached to the posterior tubercle of the atlas, and to the spinous processes of the cervical vertebrae, and forms a septum between the muscles on either side of the neck.
The trapezius and splenius capitis muscle attach to the nuchal ligament.
Function
It is a ligament structure that has developed independently in humans and other animals well adapted for running. In some four-legged animals, particularly ungulates and canids, the nuchal ligament serves to sustain the weight of the head.
Clinical significance
In Chiari malformation treatment, decompression and duraplasty with a harvested nuchal ligament showed similar outcomes to pericranial and artificial grafts.
Other animals
In sheep and cattle, it is known as the paxwax or paddywack. It relieves the animal of the weight of its head.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nuchal ligament” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.