Anatomical study of the muscular branch of the median nerve to the thenar muscles of the hand

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out on twenty - three upper extremities from the Anatomy Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University. Dissection of the hands was carried out to expose the muscular branch of the median nerve to the thenar muscles. It was found that the distribution pattern of the muscular branch of the median nerve could be summarized into 3 types type I, in 12 hands [52.2%], where the muscular branch gave rise to subbranches to the abductor pollicis brevis, flexor pollicis brevis and opponens pollicis. Within type I, subtypes were observed according to the site, direction and number of individual branches. Type II, was found in 7 hands [30.4%], were the muscular branch was divided from its origin into one for the abductor pollicis brevis and one for both opponens pollicis and the flexor pollicis brevis. Type III, was found in 4 hands [17.4%], where a short muscular branch was seen providing separate independent branches at its beginning to the three thenar muscles. The branches were not anastomosing with each other