An Anatomical and Morphological Study on Accessory Head of Flexor Pollicis Longus (Gantzer’s Muscles) and Its Clinical Emphasis

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the incidence of origin, insertion, and nerve supply of Gantzer's muscle and to provide necessary information to surgeons in concern to compartment syndrome.Material and Methods: 50 embalmed disarticulated upper limbs (23 right & 27 left sides) were dissected and analyzed to find the incidence of Gantzer's muscle along with their sources of origin, the sites of insertion and nerve supply were observed and documented.Results:The incidence of an accessory head of flexor pollicis longus (Gantzer's muscle) was 24 % (12 out of 50 upper limbs). All the incidences of Gantzer's muscles were unilateral, among which, in 5, it was seen on the right side and in 7 on the left side and bilateral occurrence was not found. All the Gantzer's muscles originated from two different sources, one from the medial epicondyle and other from the coronoid process of ulna and the majority of the cases were inserted to the middle third of the tendon of FPL. In the present study, Gantzer's muscle was innerved by the anterior interosseous nerve in all specimens except in one, which was supplied by the median nerve. Conclusions:The knowledge of which, has to be borne in minds of the operating surgeons for anterior interosseous nerve syndrome and median nerve compression for an effective outcome.

The prevalence and distribution of the variants of Gantzer’s muscle: a meta-analysis of cadaveric studies

“…Fifty-eight studies in the current review have been undertaken to explore the prevalence of Gantzer’s muscle ( Fig. 1 ) [ 3 , 4 , 8 - 55 ]. These studies examined 5,903 upper limbs for ahFPL variant ( Table 1 ).…”

“…In the current meta-analysis, the prevalence of Gantzer's muscle was 65% in 5,903 upper limbs, which is inconsistent with the results of the prior meta-analysis. The pooled prevalences of ahFPL and ahFDP variants were 48% and 17%, re-EI Domiaty et al 2008 [8] Loth 1912 [53] Mohammed 2018 [9] African Afroze et al 2020 [18] aI-Qattan 1996 [15] Bagoji a et al 2017 [16] Bajpe et al 2015 [17] Bangarayya et al 2018 [20] Bilecenoglu 2005 [21] Burute & Vatsalaswamy 2017 [22] Chakravarthi et al 2014 [24] Desai et al 2017 [ spectively. The pooled prevalence that varied in the cumulative analysis was 4% (48% to 52%).…”