The Journal of hand surgery
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An injury to the dorsal aspect of the metacarpophalangeal joint of a finger usually damages the sagittal fibers of the extensor tendon mechanism. Rupture of the underlying joint capsule, a far more serious injury, has received scant attention in the medical literature. ⋯ Eight dorsal capsular ruptures are described in six patients who had closed direct trauma to either the knuckle of their index or long fingers. Most of the injuries occurred in professional boxers.
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In standard anatomy textbooks the course and distribution of the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve and its branches are glossed over in a vague fashion as if they are of little importance. There are, however, clinical circumstances in which a knowledge of the anatomy of this nerve is invaluable. ⋯ The medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve is also frequently used in nerve grafting, especially in brachial plexus reconstruction, in which it is beneficial to know the available length and size of donor nerve. Fifty fresh cadaveric arms were dissected to define the course, distribution, size, and branches of the nerve.
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Normal functional variations of the flexor digitorum superficialis were clinically determined by use of the standard and modified superficialis flexion tests in 50 normal subjects. Forty hands of 20 cadavers were dissected to correlate the anatomic variations with the clinical findings. A flexor digitorum superficialis-independent pattern was found 58% of the time. ⋯ The right and left hands were asymmetric 26% of the time. All cadaver hands had a flexor digitorum superficialis tendon present in the palm and finger. The variability in flexor digitorum superficialis function may be explained by interconnections between the flexor digitorum superficialis of the small finger and either the flexor digitorum superficialis of the ring finger or the flexor digitorum profundus of the small finger.