Ah yes, Grays, very impressive. But "real life" surgeons rarely use the term
medial and lateral when referring to upper limb anatomy distal to the elbow.
That was my (rather pedantic) point. Anyway, that groove you describe is,
strictly speaking, on the ulnar (or medial) aspect of the bone, so the
tendon is actually situated centrally over the ulnar head, not laterally as
you have interpreted.
Adrian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rowley Cottingham" <
Subject: Re: Distal ulna injuries
> Brave man to argue with dear old Dr Gray! You are right on one point; it
is of course an adductor and
> that was a typo by me. "It can be identified in the living subject
immediately lateral to the groove
> which overlies the posterior border of the ulna" are the precise words.
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Rowley Cottingham"
> > Subject: Re: Distal ulna injuries
> >
> > > There isn't a great deal in this area, and about the only structure of
> > > note is the tendon of extensor carpi ulnaris that runs down the
> > > lateral
> > > aspect of the ulna, between the head and the styloid process of the
> > > ulna
> > > through its own little compartment of the extensor retinaculum before
> > > attaching distally to the base of the 5th metacarpal (I did have to
> > > look
> > > up the precise details, in case anyone thinks me terminally sad!) to
> > > act
> > > as an extensor, wrist stabiliser and abductor.
> >
> > I'm a bit worried that you found this after looking it up. The ECU
> > tendon
> > does indeed insert into the base of the 5th metacarpal, where it acts
> > as an
> > extensor and synergistic stabiliser, but it adducts the wrist, not
> > abducts.
> > Further, I'm dismayed that you found a text that describes the tendon
> > running down the lateral aspect of the ulna; if you really must take a
> > view,
> > you should describe this as the radial side of the ulna. In any case,
> > the
> > tendon actually runs dorsally over the ulnar head, preferring neither
> > side
> > at the level of the wrist. OK, maybe I really am terminally sad...well,
> > someone's got to!
> >
> > Adrian Fogarty
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