Flexor Health Dictionary

One of the digits of the hand. Each finger has 3 phalanges (bones), which join at hinge joints moved by muscle tendons, and an artery, vein, and nerve running down each side. The entire structure is enclosed in skin with a nail at the tip.Common finger injuries are lacerations, fractures, tendon ruptures, and mallet finger.

Infections such as paronychia can occur, and inflamed flexor tendons may cause trigger finger.

Congenital finger disorders include syndactyly, polydactyly, missing fingers, or a webbed appearance due to deep membrane between the fingers; other finger disorders include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, Raynaud’s disease, and dactylitis (swelling) due to sickle cell anaemia.

Clubbing of the fingers is a sign of chronic lung disease or some forms of congenital heart disease.

Tumours of the finger are rare but may occur in chondromatosis.... finger

The muscles of the body that are attached to the skeleton. These muscles are responsible for voluntary movement, and also support and stabilize the skeleton. In most cases, a muscle attaches to a bone (usually by means of a tendon) and crosses over a joint to attach to another bone. Muscles can produce movement by contracting and shortening to pull on the bone to which they are attached. They can only pull, not push, and are therefore arranged so that the pull of one muscle or group of muscles is opposed to another, enabling a movement to be reversed. Although most actions of the skeletal muscles are under conscious control, reflex movements of certain muscles occur in response to stimuli.

There are more than 600 muscles in the body, classified according to the type of movement they produce.

An extensor opens out a joint, a flexor closes it; an adductor draws a part of the body inwards, an abductor moves it outwards; a levator raises it, a depressor lowers it; and constrictor or sphincter muscles surround and close orifices.... muscular system

the space between the carpal bones of the wrist and the connective tissue (retinaculum) over the flexor tendons. It contains the flexor tendons and the median nerve.... carpal tunnel

n. inflammation of a finger or toe caused by bone infection (as in tuberculous *osteomyelitis) or rheumatic diseases, such as spondyloarthropathy, psoriatic arthritis, or sarcoidosis or seen in infants with sickle-cell disease. The whole digit is swollen and may resemble a sausage (known as ‘sausage digit’). The diffuse swelling arises from the flexor tendon, its sheath, and adjacent soft tissue.... dactylitis

weakness or paralysis of the shoulder and arm usually caused by injury to the upper roots of the *brachial plexus during traumatic childbirth. This may happen if, during a difficult delivery, excess traction applied to the head damages the fifth and sixth cervical roots of the spinal cord. The muscles of the shoulder and the flexors of the elbow are paralysed and the arm hangs at the side internally rotated at the shoulder with the forearm pronated (waiter’s-tip deformity). Recovery may be spontaneous, but in some cases nerve grafts or muscle transfers are required. [W. H. Erb (1840–1921), German neurologist]

ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) the technique in which a catheter is passed through a *duodenoscope into the *ampulla of Vater of the common bile duct and injected with a radiopaque medium to outline the pancreatic duct and bile ducts radiologically. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP; see cholangiography) is often used to diagnose biliary and pancreatic disease followed by ERCP for diagnostic confirmation and therapeutic intervention. ERCP facilitates the removal of gallstones from the common bile duct, biopsy of lesions, and insertion of biliary *stents. See also papillotomy.... erb’s palsy

inflammation of the origin of the common flexor tendon on the medial epicondyle of the *humerus (medial epicondylitis), caused by overuse of the forearm muscles. Treatment is by rest, a brace, anti-inflammatory medication, or steroid injection. Avoidance of repetitive injury is also important. Compare tennis elbow.... golfer’s elbow

a reflex obtained by drawing a bluntly pointed object (such as a key) along the outer border of the sole of the foot from the heel to the little toe. The normal flexor response is a bunching and downward movement of the toes. An upward movement of the big toe is called an extensor response (or Babinski reflex or response). In all persons over the age of 18 months this is a sensitive indication of damage to the *pyramidal system in either the brain or spinal cord.... plantar reflex

n. 1. a soft mass of tissue (for example, of the *spleen, in which there is both red pulp and white pulp). 2. the mass of connective tissue in the pulp cavity, at the centre of a *tooth. It is surrounded by dentine except where it communicates with the rest of the body at the apex. The pulp within the crown portion of the pulp cavity is described as coronal pulp; that within the root canal is the radicular pulp. 3. the fleshy cushion on the flexor surface of the fingertip.... pulp

n. (pl. retinacula) a thickened band of tissue that serves to hold various tissues in place. For example, flexor retinacula are found over the flexor tendons in the wrist and ankle.... retinaculum

n. a tough whitish cord, consisting of numerous parallel bundles of collagen fibres, that serves to attach a muscle to a bone. Tendons are inelastic but flexible; they assist in concentrating the pull of the muscle on a small area of bone. Some tendons are surrounded by tendon sheaths – these are tubular double-layered sacs lined with synovial membrane and containing synovial fluid. Tendon sheaths enclose the flexor tendons at the wrist and ankle, where they minimize friction and facilitate movement. See also aponeurosis. —tendinous adj.... tendon

an impairment in the ability to extend a finger, resulting either from a nodular thickening in the flexor tendon or a narrowing of the flexor tendon sheath. On unclenching the fist, the affected finger (usually the third or fourth) at first remains bent and then, on overcoming the resistance, suddenly straightens (‘triggers’). Treatment is by incision of the tendon sheath or injection of steroid around the tendon.... trigger finger

n. (pl. vincula) a connecting band of tissue. The vincula tendinum are threadlike bands of synovial membrane that connect the flexor tendons of the fingers and toes to their point of insertion on the phalanges.... vinculum