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Fifth metacarpal bone

Metacarpal bone of the little finger

Metacarpal bone of the little finger

FieldValue
NameFifth metacarpal bone
Latinos metacarpale V
ImageFifth metacarpal bone (left hand) 01 palmar view.png
CaptionFifth metacarpal of the left hand (shown in red). Palmar view.
Image2Gray233.png
Caption2The fifth metacarpal. (Left.)

The fifth metacarpal bone (metacarpal bone of the little finger or pinky finger) is the most medial and second-shortest of the metacarpal bones.

Surfaces

It presents on its base one facet on its superior surface, which is concavo-convex and articulates with the hamate, and one on its radial side, which articulates with the fourth metacarpal.

On its ulnar side is a prominent tubercle for the insertion of the tendon of the extensor carpi ulnaris muscle.

The dorsal surface of the body is divided by an oblique ridge, which extends from near the ulnar side of the base to the radial side of the head. The lateral part of this surface serves for the attachment of the fourth interosseus dorsalis; the medial part is smooth, triangular, and covered by the extensor tendons of the little finger.

The palmar surface is similarly divided: Its lateral side (facing the fourth metacarpal) provides the origin for the third palmar interosseus, its medial side contains the insertion of opponens digiti quinti.

Clinical significance

A fracture of the fourth and/or fifth metacarpal bones transverse neck secondary due to axial loading is known as a boxer's fracture. The fifth metacarpal bone is the most common bone to be injured when throwing a punch.

Ossification

The ossification process begins in the shaft during prenatal life, and in the head between 11th and 37th months.

Additional images

File:Fifth metacarpal bone (left hand) - animation01.gif|Fifth metacarpal bone of the left hand (shown in red). Animation. File:Fifth metacarpal bone (left hand) - animation02.gif|Fifth metacarpal bone of the left hand. Close up. File:Gray219 - Fifth metacarpal bone.png|Palmer view of the left hand (fifth metacarpal shown in yellow). File:Gray220 - Fifth metacarpal bone.png|Dorsal view of the left hand (fifth metacarpal shown in yellow). File:Boxers fracture-lateral xray.JPG|Fracture of the fifth metacarpal (boxer's fracture).

References

References

  1. Shultz, S. J., Houglum, P. A., Perrin, D. H. (2010). Examination of Musculoskeletal Injuries. Chicago: Human Kinetics
  2. Balachandran, Ajay. (30 December 2013). "A Study of Ossification of heads of 2nd to 5th Metacarpals in Forensic Age Estimation in the Kerala Population". Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

bones-of-the-hand metacarpus
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