Third metacarpal bone at a glance
- Also called
- third metacarpal
- What it is
- The middle 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
- FMA24469 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Its base has a styloid process, where extensor carpi radialis brevis inserts, and articulates mainly with the capitate.
- The transverse head of adductor pollicis arises from the palmar surface of its shaft, and the second and third dorsal interossei arise from its sides.
Clinical relevance
A bony prominence at the base of the second or third metacarpal on the back of the hand is called a carpal boss.
Structures next to the third metacarpal bone
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Dorsal interossei of hand · muscular
- Dorsal venous network of hand · cardiovascular
- Palmar metacarpal artery · cardiovascular
- Palmar interossei of hand · muscular
- Fourth metacarpal bone · skeletal
- Second metacarpal bone · skeletal
- Extensor indicis · muscular
- Transverse head of adductor pollicis · muscular
- Lumbricals of hand · muscular
- Oblique head of adductor pollicis · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Third metacarpal bone (FMA24469). 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.