Long Abductor Digiti Minimi Muscle: Variation of the Hypothenar Muscles and Clinical Consequences

Abstract

Variations in the hypothenar muscles influence the susceptibility of Guyon's canal and surgical procedures in this region. The hypothenar regions of both hands of 38 human donors were dissected and the single muscles identified. A semiquantitative evaluation included 19 donors. The opponens digiti minimi and the abductor digiti minimi were constantly present. The flexor digiti minimi showed various appearances: in 58% it formed one belly, in 21% two bellies, and in 21% it was missing. Rare unilateral supernumerary muscles (2.5% in this study) were associated to the abductor digiti minimi. The variation of the flexor digiti minimi and the possible appearance of additional muscles should be recognized for hypothenar region pathologies. Clin. Anat., 33:643–645, 2020. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.