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Palmaris profundus in the carpal tunnel
  1. Theodore Paul Pezas1 and
  2. Rajive Jose2
  1. 1St George's University Hospital, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  2. 2Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK
  1. Correspondence to Rajive Jose; rajive.jose{at}uhb.nhs.uk

Abstract

Carpal tunnel release is a routinely performed operation to relieve pressure caused by compression on the median nerve. In the majority of cases, the causation of the compression will be idiopathic. Among the secondary causes of median nerve compression is the palmaris profundus, a rare anatomical variant separate to the palmaris longus tendon. It has been suggested that it may cause carpal tunnel syndrome as it courses underneath the flexor retinaculum with the contents of the carpal tunnel reducing the space available to the median nerve. Several cases have found it intimately associated with the median nerve within the carpal tunnel. Raising awareness of this anatomical variant is therefore important for those undertaking carpal tunnel decompression in order to avoid unintended damage.

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Footnotes

  • Contributors The paper was written by TPP and supervised by RJ.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.