Skeletal System
• Function
• Classification (long, short, flat, and irregular)
• Bone composition
• Bone formation and fractures
• Axial skeleton (skull, vertebral column, thorax)
• Appendicular skeleton (bones of upper and lower limbs, shoulder
girdle and pelvic girdle)
• Joints (fibrous, cartilaginous, synovial)
Functions
• The skeletal system provides an internal framework for the body,
protects organs by enclosure, and anchors skeletal muscles so that
muscle contraction can cause movement.
•Axial Skeleton - the bones that form the longitudinal axis of the body
•Appendicular skeleton - the bones of the limbs and girdles that are “appended”
(attached) to the axial skeleton
• Bones support and protect body organs; serve as levers for the
muscles to pull on to cause movement at joints; store calcium, fats,
and other substances for the body; and contain red marrow, the site of
blood cell production.
•Adult composed of 206 bones
•Types of bone: Compact bone and Spongy bone
Bone Classification
• Long bones – long compact bones with shaft
and heads at both ends. (limbs)
• Short bones – cube-shaped spongy bones
(wrist and ankle bones); patella is a sesamoid
bones (a type of short bone)
• Flat bones – thin, flattened, usually curved
bone containing spongy bone in between
compact bone (skulls, ribs, sternum)
• Irregular bones – does not fit a particular
shape (vertebrae)
Bone structure
• A long bone is composed of a shaft (diaphysis)
with two ends (epiphyses).
• Bone markings are ridges and holes where
muscles, tendons, and ligaments were
attached and where blood vessels and nerves
passed. (Projections and Depressions)
• The shaft is compact bone; its cavity contains
yellow (medullary) marrow.
•Adult – storage of adipose tissue
•Infants – red marrow and forms blood cells
• The epiphyses are covered with hyaline
cartilage; they contain spongy bone (where red
marrow is found)
•Epiphyseal line remnant of the epiphyseal plate -
cause the lengthwise growth of a long bone.
Microscopic Anatomy
• Osteocytes – mature bone cells
found within the cavities of
Lacunae - are arranged in
concentric circles called
lamellae which encircles around
central (Haversian) canals –
carries blood vessels and nerves
• Canaliculi – are tiny canals
that connects all the bone cells
to the nutrient supply.
• Perforating (Volkmann’s)
canals - which run in the
compact bone at right angles to
the shaft.
Bone Growth and Remodeling
• Ossification – the process of bone formation
involves growth and remodeling.
•Osteoblast – are bone forming cells
•Osteoclast – are giant bone destroying cells
• Bone growth is controlled by hormones (growth
hormones) and sex hormones during puberty.
•Bone growth ends during adolescence, when the
epiphyseal plates are completely converted to bone.
• Bone remodeling happens during calcium
uptake and release (PTH determines when ) and
size and weight (the stresses of muscle pull and
gravity acting on the skeleton (determine where)
Fractures
• A fracture is a break in a bone.
•Closed (simple) fracture are bone
breaks that does not penetrate the
skin.
•Open (compound) fracture are broken
bones ends that penetrate through
skin.
• Bone Reduction is the
realignment of the broken bone
ends.
•Closed reduction - the bone ends are
coaxed back into their normal
position by the physician’s hands.
•Open reduction - surgery is
performed, and the bone ends are
secured together with pins or wires.
Stages of Bone Healing
Axial skeleton
• Skull – bones are joined together by sutures (interlocking, immovable
joints) except the mandible. Cranium and facial bones.
•Cranium: frontal bone, parietal bone, temporal bone , occipital bone, sphenoid bone,
and ethmoid bone.
•Fetal skull – fontanels allow the fetal skull to be compressed slightly during birth.
Are converted to bones no longer than 22 to 24 months after birth.
• Vertebral column – aka. Spine is formed from 26 irregular bones; it
supports and transmit body’s weight to the lower limbs; it protects the
spinal cord.
•7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, sacrum and coccyx (separated by intervertebral discs
that cushions and absorbs shocks together with its S-shaped structure)
• Thoracic cage – composed of sternum, ribs, and thoracic vertebrae. Forms
a cage that protects the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels.
•12 pair of ribs. 7 are true ribs (attached to the sternum), 5 are false ribs (indirectly
attached), last 2 pairs of false ribs are floating ribs (not attached).
Appendicular skeleton
• Shoulder girdle – consist of clavicle (collar bone) and scapula
(shoulder blades) allows upper limb for free movement.
• Upper limbs - form the foundations of the arm, forearm, and hand.
•Arm: contain humerus; Forearm: radius and ulna; hand: carpals, metacarpals,
phalanges.
• Pelvic girdle – consist of hip bones and sacrum. Pelvis differs
between male and females.
•Hip bones: ilium, ischium, and pubis
• Lower limbs – carries the total body weight. Consist of thigh, legs,
and foot.
•Thigh bone (femur); Legs: tibia and fibula; foot: tarsals, metatarsals, phalanges.
Joints
• Aka. Articulations, are the sites where two or
more bones meet.
• Functions: They hold the bones together securely
but also give the rigid skeleton mobility.
• Classification based on structure:
•Fibrous – united by fibrous tissue (skull sutures)
•Cartilaginous – united by fibrocartilages
(intervertebral joints)
•synovial joints – contains synovial fluid at its joint
cavity. (all joints of limbs)
• Arthritis - inflammatory joint disorders
End