Question:medium
Which of the following tendons passes below the sustentaculum tali?
Which of the following tendons passes below the sustentaculum tali?
Show Hint
The shelf acts as a pulley for the tendon heading to the great toe.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Tibialis anterior
- Tibialis posterior
- Flexor digitorum longus
- Flexor hallucis longus
Show Solution
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
The sustentaculum tali is a small ledge on the inner side of the calcaneus that props up the talus, and the key is to know what touches its lower surface.
On the under-surface there is a smooth groove, and the tendon that glides through it is flexor hallucis longus on its way to the big toe. The shelf acts like a pulley for that tendon, which is the whole point of remembering this relation. So the tendon passing below the sustentaculum tali is flexor hallucis longus.
The distractors fall away with location. Tibialis anterior stays on the front of the ankle and inserts on the medial cuneiform and first metatarsal. Flexor digitorum longus runs on the medial side and lies above, not below, the sustentaculum.
The companion part of the question asks what attaches to the sustentaculum, and that is the tibialis posterior, which fans out onto the navicular and tarsal bones and gives a slip to the sustentaculum tali. So one tendon grooves under the shelf (flexor hallucis longus) while another attaches to it (tibialis posterior).
Therefore the tendon passing below the sustentaculum tali is flexor hallucis longus.
\[\boxed{\text{Flexor hallucis longus}}\]
On the under-surface there is a smooth groove, and the tendon that glides through it is flexor hallucis longus on its way to the big toe. The shelf acts like a pulley for that tendon, which is the whole point of remembering this relation. So the tendon passing below the sustentaculum tali is flexor hallucis longus.
The distractors fall away with location. Tibialis anterior stays on the front of the ankle and inserts on the medial cuneiform and first metatarsal. Flexor digitorum longus runs on the medial side and lies above, not below, the sustentaculum.
The companion part of the question asks what attaches to the sustentaculum, and that is the tibialis posterior, which fans out onto the navicular and tarsal bones and gives a slip to the sustentaculum tali. So one tendon grooves under the shelf (flexor hallucis longus) while another attaches to it (tibialis posterior).
Therefore the tendon passing below the sustentaculum tali is flexor hallucis longus.
\[\boxed{\text{Flexor hallucis longus}}\]
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