Second rib

Costa secunda

  • Latin synonym: Costa II
  • Synonym: Rib 2
  • Related terms: Second rib [II]

Definition

The second rib is much longer than the first, but has a very similar curvature.

The non-articular portion of the tubercle is occasionally only feebly marked. The angle is slight, and situated close to the tubercle. The body is not twisted, so that both ends touch any plane surface upon which it may be laid; but there is a bend, with its convexity upward, similar to, though smaller than that found in the first rib. The body is not flattened horizontally like that of the first rib. Its external surface is convex, and looks upward and a little outward; near the middle of it is a rough eminence for the origin of the lower part of the first and the whole of the second digitation of the Serratus anterior; behind and above this is attached the Scalenus posterior. The internal surface, smooth, and concave, is directed downward and a little inward: on its posterior part there is a short costal groove.

References

This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from http://www.bartleby.com/107/).

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