Which elbow bone has a hook

This question is required. The hamate bone is one of the eight small carpal bones in the wrist that connect the forearm to the hand. The hamate is a wedge-shaped bone located on the outside of the wrist on the small-finger side. While this injury is uncommon, it can be painful and difficult to treat. Hamate fractures usually happen to athletes who grip a bat or club. For instance, a fracture can occur to a baseball player when they check their swing. Sometimes, the repetitive stresses placed on the wrist from gripping a bat or club over time can cause this injury.

A fall or some other direct trauma to the wrist can also cause the fracture. Pain on the ulnar pinky finger side of the wrist is the most common symptom associated with hook of hamate fractures. Pain is usually persistent and severe when you press directly on the ulnar side of the wrist. Other common symptoms of hook of hamate fractures include:.

If you have symptoms of a hook of hamate fracture, you should make an appointment to see your doctor. To make a diagnosis, your doctor will ask about your injury and the sports you play and conduct a physical examination to look for signs of injury. If a fracture is suspected, your doctor may apply pressure to areas of your wrist, and ask you to move it in various positions. Hook of hamate fractures are hard to capture through imaging, even with this special view. CT scans and magnetic resonance imaging MRI tests may be ordered to look at the bones and soft tissues in your wrist.

These tests help confirm the diagnosis and rule out other causes of your pain. If you have a hook of hamate fracture due to a recent injury, then your doctor may consider non-surgical treatment. Wearing a splint or cast for six to eight weeks has been shown to successfully heal most recent fractures. Conservative treatment typically involves:. Log in Sign up. Articles Cases Courses Quiz.

About Recent Edits Go ad-free. Edit article. View revision history Report problem with Article. Citation, DOI and article data. Hacking, C. Reference article, Radiopaedia. URL of Article. On this page:. Last's Anatomy. Churchill Livingstone. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon 2. Thompson JC. Netter's Concise Orthopaedic Anatomy.

Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon 3. Gray's anatomy. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon 4. This area is the site of articulation between the proximal radius and the ulna, forming the proximal radioulnar joint. The posterior and superior portions of the proximal ulna make up the olecranon process , which forms the bony tip of the elbow.

More distal is the shaft of the ulna. The small, rounded area that forms the distal end is the head of the ulna. Projecting from the posterior side of the ulnar head is the styloid process of the ulna , a short bony projection.

This serves as an attachment point for a connective tissue structure that unites the distal ends of the ulna and radius. The radius runs parallel to the ulna, on the lateral thumb side of the forearm see Figure 6. The head of the radius is a disc-shaped structure that forms the proximal end.

The small depression on the surface of the head articulates with the capitulum of the humerus as part of the elbow joint, whereas the smooth, outer margin of the head articulates with the radial notch of the ulna at the proximal radioulnar joint. The neck of the radius is the narrowed region immediately below the expanded head.

Inferior to this point on the medial side is the radial tuberosity , an oval-shaped, bony protuberance that serves as a muscle attachment point.

The distal end of the radius has a smooth surface for articulation with two carpal bones to form the radiocarpal joint or wrist joint Figure 6.

The lateral end of the radius has a pointed projection called the styloid process of the radius. This provides attachment for ligaments that support the lateral side of the wrist joint. Compared to the styloid process of the ulna, the styloid process of the radius projects more distally, thereby limiting the range of movement for lateral deviations of the hand at the wrist joint.

Watch this video to see how fractures of the distal radius bone can affect the wrist joint. Explain the problems that may occur if a fracture of the distal radius involves the joint surface of the radiocarpal joint of the wrist.

The wrist and base of the hand are formed by a series of eight small carpal bones see Figure 6. The carpal bones are arranged in two rows, forming a proximal row of four carpal bones and a distal row of four carpal bones. The small, rounded pisiform bone articulates with the anterior surface of the triquetrum bone. The pisiform thus projects anteriorly, where it forms the bony bump that can be felt at the medial base of your hand.

The hamate bone is characterized by a prominent bony extension on its anterior side called the hook of the hamate bone. Thus, it starts and finishes on the lateral side. The carpal bones form the base of the hand. This can be seen in the radiograph X-ray image of the hand that shows the relationships of the hand bones to the skin creases of the hand see Figure 6. Within the carpal bones, the four proximal bones are united to each other by ligaments to form a unit.

Only three of these bones, the scaphoid, lunate, and triquetrum, contribute to the radiocarpal joint. The scaphoid and lunate bones articulate directly with the distal end of the radius, whereas the triquetrum bone articulates with a fibrocartilaginous pad that spans the radius and styloid process of the ulna.

The distal end of the ulna thus does not directly articulate with any of the carpal bones. The palm of the hand contains five elongated metacarpal bones. These bones lie between the carpal bones of the wrist and the bones of the fingers and thumb see Figure 6. The proximal end of each metacarpal bone articulates with one of the distal carpal bones.

Each of these articulations is a carpometacarpal joint. The expanded distal end of each metacarpal bone articulates at the metacarpophalangeal joint with the proximal phalanx bone of the thumb or one of the fingers. The distal end also forms the knuckles of the hand, at the base of the fingers.