The extensor tendons to the little finger: an anatomic study

Fifty cadaver hands were dissected to better delineate the extensor tendon anatomy to the little finger. The extensor digitorum communis was present in 35. Of 15 hands without an extensor digitorum communis, 12 had a junctura present. Three hands lacked both extensor digitorum communis and juncturae. Transfer of the extensor digiti minimi tendon in these hands could cause loss of extension to the little finger. Ten hands had a direct attachment of the extensor digiti minimi tendon on the abductor tubercle. Twenty-two hands had either an attachment of the extensor digiti minimi on the abductor tubercle, an unbalanced ulnar slip of the extensor digiti minimi, or both, anatomic factors that could--in the event of ulnar nerve compression or laceration--cause Wartenberg's sign. Twenty-eight hands did not have an anatomic variant of the extensor that could cause ulnar deviation of the little finger.