Supinator at a glance
- What it is
- A deep forearm muscle wrapping around the upper radius.
- Location
- Originates from the lateral epicondyle of the humerus, radial collateral and annular ligaments, and supinator crest and fossa of the ulna, and wraps around to insert onto the lateral, posterior and anterior surfaces of the upper third of the radius.
- Function
- Supinates the forearm.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA38513 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: deep branch of the radial nerve (posterior interosseous nerve); root values vary by source (C5–C6 or C7–C8)
- The posterior interosseous nerve passes through it
Clinical relevance
Compression of the nerve here causes posterior interosseous nerve syndrome.
Structures next to the supinator
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Humeral head of pronator teres · muscular
- Common interosseous artery · cardiovascular
- Brachioradialis · muscular
- Ulnar head of pronator teres · muscular
- Recurrent interosseous artery · cardiovascular
- Anconeus · muscular
- Anterior ulnar recurrent artery · cardiovascular
- Radial recurrent artery · cardiovascular
- Basilic vein · cardiovascular
- Extensor carpi radialis longus · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Supinator (FMA38513). 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.