Santosh K Sangari , Rosalinda G Guce, Ritwik Baidya and Estomih P Mtui
Introduction: The anatomical knowledge regarding variations in muscles, blood vessels and nerves reveal vital aspects worth considering, when treating musculoskeletal diseases.
Case report: The present case reports a male cadaver with a variant palmaris longus muscle in the right forearm. The right palmaris longus muscle originated by a thin long tendon from the medial epicondyle of the humerus and presented as an inverted fusiform muscle belly in the distal half of the forearm. The muscle belly at its distal end was split into two slips enclosing the ulnar artery and the ulnar nerve.
Conclusion: It is important for a physician to be aware of this variation, as the excessive contraction of this palmaris longus invertus muscle may compress the ulnar artery and ulnar nerve with subsequent lack of blood supply to the hand and weakness/atrophy of muscles supplied by the ulnar nerve. The hand surgeon has to be cautious as well, while harvesting the palmaris longus tendon/muscle as a graft and observe its relationship with ulnar artery and ulnar nerve.