The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 61, Issue 4 557-561, Copyright © 1979 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Movement patterns of interosseus-minus fingers
H Srinivasan
The patterns of isolated metacarpophalangeal-joint flexion and isolated
interphalangeal-joint extension movements in eighty fingers with intact
extrinsic and lumbrical muscles but no interossei (so-called
interosseus-minus fingers) were studied. The pattern of metacarpophalangeal
flexion resembled that seen in fingers with paralysis of all intrinsic
muscles. From this it was inferred that in the interosseus-minus finger the
lumbrical muscles are inactive during this movement. The pattern of
isolated interphalangeal extension in the interosseus-minus fingers showed
an improvement over that in totally intrinsic-minus fingers, suggesting
that the lumbrical muscles reduce the extending forces at the
metacarpophalangeal joint to some extent. Active participation of the
interosseus muscles appears to be necessary for carrying out the movements
of isolated metacarpophalangeal flexion and interphalangeal extension.