Extensor carpi radialis longus at a glance
- What it is
- A wrist extensor lying just distal to brachioradialis.
- Location
- Origin: lateral supracondylar ridge of the humerus. Insertion: base of the 2nd metacarpal.
- Function
- Extends and abducts the hand at the wrist.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA38495 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: radial nerve (C6–C7)
- Its tendon shares the second dorsal compartment with extensor carpi radialis brevis and inserts on the dorsal base of the second metacarpal.
- It is supplied by the radial nerve before the nerve divides, so it is spared in posterior interosseous nerve lesions.
Structures next to the extensor carpi radialis longus
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Extensor carpi radialis brevis · muscular
- Radius · skeletal
- Anterior interosseous artery · cardiovascular
- Radial vein · cardiovascular
- Ulna · skeletal
- Extensor carpi ulnaris · muscular
- Flexor carpi radialis · muscular
- Ulnar vein · cardiovascular
- Radial artery · cardiovascular
- Brachioradialis · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Extensor carpi radialis longus (FMA38495). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.