Anatomy study note · Upper limb

Carpal bones

Eight small bones of the wrist arranged in two rows of four. Together they form an arch whose concavity, roofed by the flexor retinaculum, is the carpal tunnel.

Key points

• Proximal row: scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform. Distal row: trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate.
• Mnemonic: "Some lovers try positions that they cannot handle."
• Scaphoid: floor of the snuffbox; waist fracture → avascular necrosis of the proximal part.
• Lunate dislocates anteriorly → median nerve compression.
• Pisiform = sesamoid in FCU; trapezium = saddle joint for the thumb.
• Limb bones: limb-bud mesenchyme, endochondral (except clavicle).
• Bone: type I collagen + hydroxyapatite.
• Osteoblast builds, osteocyte maintains, osteoclast resorbs.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 235–238
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 7, PDF p. 98; ch. 10, PDF pp. 141, 145
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 121–125, 130

More from the upper limb

• Cephalic vein
• Clavicle
• Coracobrachialis
• Deltoid
• Dorsal scapular nerve
• Elbow joint
• Extensor carpi radialis brevis
• Extensor carpi radialis longus
• Extensor carpi ulnaris
• Extensor digiti minimi
• Extensor digitorum
• Extensor indicis

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