Extensor carpi ulnaris at a glance
- What it is
- A wrist extensor on the ulnar side of the posterior forearm.
- Location
- Origin: common extensor tendon and posterior border of the ulna. Insertion: base of the 5th metacarpal.
- Function
- Extends and adducts the hand at the wrist.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA38507 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: posterior interosseous nerve (C7–C8)
- Its tendon runs in the sixth dorsal compartment, in a groove beside the ulnar styloid process.
- Acting with flexor carpi ulnaris it adducts (ulnar-deviates) the hand.
Structures next to the extensor carpi ulnaris
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Anterior interosseous artery · cardiovascular
- Ulna · skeletal
- Flexor carpi radialis · muscular
- Ulnar artery · cardiovascular
- Median antebrachial vein · cardiovascular
- Humeral head of flexor carpi ulnaris · muscular
- Interosseous membrane of forearm · skeletal
- Ulnar vein · cardiovascular
- Radial vein · cardiovascular
- Radius · skeletal
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Extensor carpi ulnaris (FMA38507). 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.