Palmaris longus at a glance
- What it is
- A slender forearm flexor with a short belly and a long tendon that fans into the palm.
- Location
- Originates from the medial epicondyle of the humerus by the common flexor tendon and inserts into the flexor retinaculum and the palmar aponeurosis.
- Function
- Weakly flexes the wrist and tenses the palmar aponeurosis.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA38463 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: median nerve (C7–C8)
- Absent in roughly 10–15 percent of people
Clinical relevance
Its tendon is commonly harvested as a graft in reconstructive surgery.
Structures next to the palmaris longus
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Extensor digiti minimi · muscular
- Interosseous membrane of forearm · skeletal
- Ulnar artery · cardiovascular
- Radial artery · cardiovascular
- Ulnar vein · cardiovascular
- Median antebrachial vein · cardiovascular
- Flexor carpi radialis · muscular
- Abductor pollicis longus · muscular
- Radial vein · cardiovascular
- Flexor digitorum superficialis · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Palmaris longus (FMA38463). 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.