Superficial head of flexor pollicis brevis at a glance
- What it is
- The larger, lateral head of flexor pollicis brevis in the thenar eminence.
- Location
- Originates from the flexor retinaculum and tubercle of the trapezium and inserts onto the lateral side of the base of the proximal phalanx of the thumb.
- Function
- Flexes the thumb at the metacarpophalangeal joint.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA65198 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: recurrent branch of the median nerve (C8–T1); the deep head is often supplied by the ulnar nerve
- With abductor pollicis brevis and opponens pollicis it forms the thenar eminence; a sesamoid bone lies in its tendon at the thumb metacarpophalangeal joint.
Structures next to the superficial head of flexor pollicis brevis
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Flexor pollicis brevis · muscular
- Opponens pollicis · muscular
- Abductor pollicis brevis · muscular
- First metacarpal bone · skeletal
- Oblique head of adductor pollicis · muscular
- Extensor indicis · muscular
- Arteria princeps pollicis · cardiovascular
- Trapezium · skeletal
- Transverse head of adductor pollicis · muscular
- Trapezoid · skeletal
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Superficial head of flexor pollicis brevis (FMA65198). 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.