Anatomy study note · Upper limb

Adductor pollicis

A fan-shaped two-headed muscle deep in the palm that gives the thumb its gripping power.

Key points

• Oblique (MC2–3) + transverse (MC3) heads → proximal phalanx of the thumb.
• Deep branch of the ULNAR nerve (not median).
• Adducts the thumb; grip strength.
• Froment sign = ulnar nerve lesion.
• Limb muscles: in situ from limb-bud mesenchyme.
• Upper limb bud C4–T2; lower limb bud L2–S2.
• Skeletal muscle: multinucleated, peripheral nuclei, striated.
• Epimysium → perimysium → endomysium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Origin · Insertion · Action · Nerve supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 315–316, 347–350
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 7, PDF p. 109; ch. 10, PDF pp. 142–145
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 8, PDF pp. 135–144

More from the upper limb

• Anconeus
• Axillary artery
• Axillary lymph nodes
• Axillary nerve
• Axillary vein
• Basilic vein
• Biceps brachii
• Brachial artery
• Brachial plexus
• Brachialis
• Brachioradialis
• Breast

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