ABDUCTOR POLLICIS LONGUS: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Abductor pollicis iongus, long regarded as a motor for the thumb, is anatomically and functionally a radial deviator of the wrist and should be so named. The abductor carpi is proposed. If the other radial deviators of the wrist are acting this tendon can be selectively utilized as a transfer without loss of function. Reflex spasm of this muscle probably plays an important role in the radial deviation deformity seen in the rheumatoid hand. Journal o f Hand Surgery (British Volume, 1992) 17 B: 476-478 The function of abductor pollicis longus has long exercised the minds of anatomists and surgeons. It is said that Socrates tated "He who first gave names to things gave them according to his concept of what hey signified to him. If erroneous, are we not being deceived?" So it is with abductor pollicis longus, which is attached to the base of the first metacarpal; as the thumb has independent action in planes at right angles and parallel to the axis of the palm, anatomists have assumed tha