Tuesday, 28 June 2016

Flexor and Extensor Retinacula-Flexor Retinaculum-Extensor Retinaculum-Carpal Tunnel-Absent Palmaris Longus-Contents of the Anterior Fascial Compartment of the Forearm-

Flexor and Extensor Retinacula
The flexor and extensor retinacula are strong bands of deep fascia that hold the long flexor and extensor tendons in position at the wrist.

Flexor Retinaculum
The flexor retinaculum is a thickening of deep fascia that holds the long flexor tendons in position at the wrist. It stretches across the front of the wrist and converts the concave anterior surface of the hand into an osteofascial tunnel, the carpal tunnel, for the passage of the median nerve and the flexor tendons of the thumb and fingers.

It is attached medially to the pisiform bone and the hook of the hamate and laterally to the tubercle of the scaphoid and the trapezium bones. The attachment to the trapezium consists of superficial and deep parts and forms a synoviallined tunnel for passage of the tendon of the flexor carpi radialis.

The upper border of the retinaculum corresponds to the distal transverse skin crease in front of the wrist and is continuous with the deep fascia of the forearm. The lower border is attached to the palmar aponeurosis

Extensor Retinaculum
The extensor retinaculum is a thickening of deep fascia that stretches across the back of the wrist and holds the long extensor tendons in position. It converts the grooves on the posterior surface of the distal ends of the radius and ulna into six separate tunnels for the passage of the long extensor tendons. Each tunnel is lined with a synovial sheath, which extends above and below the retinaculum on the tendons. The tunnels are separated from one another by fibrous septa that pass from the deep surface of the retinaculum to the bones.
The retinaculum is attached medially to the pisiform bone and the hook of the hamate and laterally to the distal end of the radius.



The upper and lower borders of the retinaculum are continuous with the deep fascia of the forearm and hand, respectively.

Carpal Tunnel
The bones of the hand and the flexor retinaculum form the carpal tunnel. The median nerve lies in a restricted space between the tendons of the flexor digitorum superficialis and the flexor carpi radialis muscles.

Absent Palmaris Longus
The palmaris longus muscle may be absent on one or both sides of the forearm in about 10% of persons. Others show variation in form, such as centrally or distally placed muscle belly in the place of a proximal one. Because the muscle is relatively weak, its absence produces no disability.

Contents of the Anterior Fascial Compartment of the Forearm
■■ Muscles: A superficial group, consisting of the pronator teres, the flexor carpi radialis, the palmaris longus, and the flexor carpi ulnaris; an intermediate group consisting of the flexor digitorum superficialis; and a deep group consisting of the flexor pollicis longus, the flexor digitorum profundus, and the pronator quadratus
■■ Blood supply to the muscles: Ulnar and radial arteries
■■ Nerve supply to the muscles: All the muscles are supplied by the median nerve and its branches, except the flexor carpi ulnaris and the medial part of the flexor digitorum profundus, which are supplied by the ulnar nerve.











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