Cadaveric dissection of 43 adult hands systematically documenting the number, configuration, and insertion patterns of all finger extensor tendons — EIP, EDC (index/long/ring/small), EMP, and EDQ — and their relationships to juncturae tendinum morphology.
When operating on the dorsal hand, expect variation as the baseline: the EDC-small is more often absent than present, the EDQ almost always has two slips, and a thick junctura between EDC-ring and EDQ may be the only structure extending the small finger.
Misidentifying a type 3 junctura as the EDC-small — or missing a double EIP or EMP — leads to incomplete repairs and failed tendon transfers.
Cadaveric dissection of 43 adult hands systematically documenting the number, configuration, and insertion patterns of all finger extensor tendons — EIP, EDC (index/long/ring/small), EMP, and EDQ — and their relationships to juncturae tendinum morphology.
When operating on the dorsal hand, expect variation as the baseline: the EDC-small is more often absent than present, the EDQ almost always has two slips, and a thick junctura between EDC-ring and EDQ may be the only structure extending the small finger.
Misidentifying a type 3 junctura as the EDC-small — or missing a double EIP or EMP — leads to incomplete repairs and failed tendon transfers.