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Extensor digiti minimi
Other Terms:
Musculus extensor digiti minimi,
Muscle extenseur du petit doigt
Muscle parts
None
Latin name
Musculus extensor digiti minimi
Latin muscle parts
None
Group
Antebrachial muscle – posterior compartment – lateral group
Etymology
In English this muscle’s name is the muscle that straightens the little finger. The word extensor comes from the Latin ex meaning “out from” and tendere meaning “to stretch.”The term digiti is from the Latin digitus, which originally meant the “pointing thing,” a term that is similar to the Sanskrit word “dic” meaning to show or point out. Because we point with our fingers the term was applied to the fingers and then the toes.The term minimus is Latin for “least or smallest.” Its use in this instance is in reference to the fact that the muscle attaches to the smallest finger of the hand.
Origin
Lateral epicondyle of humerus via a thin tendinous slip to common extensor tendon
Insertion
Tendon divides into two distally and both tendons join the extensor expansion of the little finger with the extensor digitorum
Action
Extension of all the joints of the little finger and assists wrist extensors
Nerve supply
Radial nerve (C7 and C8)
Blood supply
From proximal to distal, the belly of the muscle receives blood from the posterior interosseous artery and its recurrent interosseous branch and the perforating part of the anterior interosseous artery. The distal tendons of the muscle are supplied by branches from the dorsal carpal arch, dorsal metacarpal arteries, and dorsal digital arteries.
Latin
Musculus extensor digiti minimi
French
Muscle extenseur du petit doigt