Ranjib Jha^1,, Yogendra Gupta², Rimu Mishra³

The Palmaris longus is one of the most variable muscles in the body which flexes the wrist and tenses the palmar fascia. It is used as a source of tendon graft. It has been seen that there is association between prevalence of Palmaris longus with race, sex and body side. The prospective study was conducted during May- June 2015 to determine the incidence of the absence of the Palmaris longus in Nepalese population in the Eastern Region using three common clinical tests among patients attending OPD of Nobel Medical College and Hospital, Biratnagar, Nepal. The overall incidence of absence was 11.8% with bilateral absence at 3.5% and unilateral absence at 8.2%. The overall difference between dominant and non-dominant and males and females was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The study findings are similar with most studies done in the Asian population. The incidence of absence of Palmaris longus was more in non dominant hand. One of the explanation in favor of above findings is that the dominant hand is more involved in manual activities and hence less likely to degenerate due to disuse as compared to the non dominant hand.

Palmaris longus, absence, Eastern Region, Nepal