Extensor digitorum muscle
Extensor digitorum muscle |
---|
Forearm muscles of man |
origin |
Humerus ( epicondylus lateralis humeri ) |
approach |
Dorsal aspect of the limbs of fingers 2–5 |
function |
Extensor of the hand and fingers |
Innervation |
Radial nerve from the brachial plexus |
Spinal segments |
C7, C8 |
The extensor digitorum muscle ( Latin for "finger extensor") is a skeletal muscle and one of the superficial extensors of the forearm . The four attachment tendons run together with the attachment tendon of the extensor indicis muscle through the fourth tendon sheath compartment of the extensor retinaculum . On the back of the hand, the tendons are connected by bridges ( connexus intertendinei ) that prevent individual fingers (especially the ring finger) from stretching in isolation. In animals, it is called the extensor digitorum communis muscle ("common finger extensor").
function
The extensor digitorum muscle stretches the hand and the 2nd – 5th. Fingers up to the middle phalanx. Since his tendons already end in the middle tract of the dorsal aponeuroses , he is not involved in the extension of the phalanxes of the fingers; this is the job of Mm. lumbricales .
In animals, it is an extensor of the pastern joint and all supporting toes.