First rib

The first rib is the most curved and usually the shortest of all the ribs; it is broad and flat, its surfaces looking upward and downward, and its borders inward and outward.

The head is small, rounded, and possesses only a single articular facet, for articulation with the body of the first thoracic vertebra.

The neck is narrow and rounded.

The tubercle, thick and prominent, is placed on the outer border.

There is no angle, but at the tubercle the rib is slightly bent, with the convexity upward, so that the head of the bone is directed downward.

The upper surface of the body is marked by two shallow grooves, separated from each other by a slight ridge prolonged internally into a tubercle, the scalene tubercle, for the attachment of the Scalenus anterior; the anterior groove transmits the subclavian vein, the posterior the subclavian artery and the lowest trunk of the brachial plexus. Behind the posterior groove is a rough area for the attachment of the Scalenus medius.

The under surface is smooth, and destitute of a costal groove.

The outer border is convex, thick, and rounded, and at its posterior part gives attachment to the first digitation of the Serratus anterior.

The inner border is concave, thin, and sharp, and marked about its center by the scalene tubercle.

The anterior extremity is larger and thicker than that of any of the other ribs.