Anatom3DExternal intercostal membrane
Membrana intercostalis externa · Zevní mezižeberní membrána
Joints & cartilage
Looks like
A thin sheet at the front of each rib gap, where the outer intercostal muscle ends and is replaced by membrane toward the breastbone.
What it does
Continues the muscle layer and closes the rib gap.
Keeping it well
No clinical role on its own; it matters as a layer that needles and drains pass through in the chest wall.
Related conditions
- Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
- Costochondritis
- Gout
- Haemophilia & bleeding disorders
- Lyme disease
- Marfan syndrome & connective tissue disorders
- Osteoarthritis
- Pleural effusion
- Pneumothorax
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Rheumatic fever & rheumatic heart disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Temporomandibular joint disorder