A cadaveric study for preoperative estimation of length of palmaris longus tendon in reconstructive surgeries

Abstract

Introduction: The palmaris longus (PL) muscle is described as one of the muscles with most anatomical variations and classified as a muscle in phylogenetic regression. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the tendon of the PL muscle can be estimated in relation to its length and width before using it as a graft in any surgical procedure. Material and Methods: The material for the present study consisted of 40 limbs (20 – right and 20 – left) of different age groups and sex (28 males and 12 females). The limbs were made available in the Anatomy Department for dissection purpose at Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab. The forearm length (FAL) and PL tendons length (TL) and width (TW) were measured. Degree of association between measurements was calculated by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The mean TL and TW in male cadavers (15.918 ± 1.462 cm and 0.463 ± 0.100 cm) was more than in female cadavers (15.050 ± 1.046 cm and 0.355 ± 0.060 cm) and PL-TW was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001). The mean FAL in male cadavers (23.025 ± 2.050 cm) was more than in female cadavers (20.483 ± 1.109 cm) and was found to be highly significant (P < 0.001). A statistically significant correlation was observed between TL and FAL in males (P = 0.010) and in females (P = 0.021). However, TW presented a statistical significance in males only (P = 0.025). The mean TL of the left side (15.690 ± 1.336 cm) was slightly more than the right side (15.625 ± 1.489 cm), whereas the mean TW of the right side (0.435 ± 0.099 cm) was slightly more than the left side (0.426 ± 0.108 cm). The mean FAL on the right side (22.295 ± 2.272 cm) was slightly more than the left side (22.230 ± 2.091 cm). Discussion and Conclusion: The statistically significant correlation observed between the PL-TL and the FAL indicates that the PL-TL can be predicted for reconstructive surgeries preoperatively.