Fourth metacarpal bone at a glance
- Also called
- fourth metacarpal
- What it is
- The ring finger metacarpal. One of the five long bones of the palm.
- Location
- Lies between the carpal bones of the wrist and the proximal phalanx of its finger, with a base proximally and a rounded head forming the knuckle.
- Function
- Forms the framework of the palm and transmits forces from the fingers to the wrist.
- Body system
- Skeletal · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA24471 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Its base articulates with the capitate and hamate.
- It is narrower than the third; the second palmar interosseous arises from its radial side.
- Its carpometacarpal joint allows a little flexion, which deepens the palm in a power grip.
Clinical relevance
Like the fifth metacarpal, its neck can fracture when a closed fist strikes a hard object.
Structures next to the fourth metacarpal bone
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Fifth metacarpal bone · skeletal
- Dorsal venous network of hand · cardiovascular
- Third metacarpal bone · skeletal
- Palmar metacarpal artery · cardiovascular
- Opponens digiti minimi of hand · muscular
- Flexor digiti minimi brevis of hand · muscular
- Palmar interossei of hand · muscular
- Dorsal interossei of hand · muscular
- Abductor digiti minimi of hand · muscular
- Extensor indicis · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Fourth metacarpal bone (FMA24471). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. 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.