VIDEO
CONTENT
QUIZ
MATERIALS
Quick Facts
Key Features
Surface Anatomy
Ossification
Variations
Clinical Correlates
Quick Facts about the Hamate Bone
- Location: Hand
- Bone Type: Short bone
- Key Features: Hook (hamulus), palmar and dorsal surfaces; triquetrum, capitate, and lunate articular facets
- Articulates With: Capitate, lunate, triquetrum, and the fourth and fifth metacarpal bones
- Arterial Supply: Deep palmar arch, dorsal carpal branch of radial and ulnar arteries
Key Features & Anatomical Relations of the Hamate
- Shape: Wedge-shaped with a distinctive hook
- Position in the Hand: Distal row of carpal bones
- Surfaces: Palmar and dorsal
- Landmarks: Triquetrum, capitate, lunate, and fourth and fifth metacarpal articular facets
Location and Articulation
- Proximity: Above the fourth and fifth metacarpal bones, below the lunate, medial to the capitate, lateral to the triquetrum
- Joints: Forms the capitohamate, lunohamate, triquetrohamate joints, and contributes to the carpometacarpal joints of the fourth and fifth fingers
Surface Anatomy
- Palpation: The hook of hamate bone can be palpated between the hypothenar eminence and the pisiform bone
Ossification of the Hamate
- Ossification Centers: One, emerging in the third month after birth
- Ossification Completion: During middle to late adolescence
Variations
- Carpal Fusion: Coalition between the hamate and capitate bones, forming the capitohamate bone
- Accessory Bones: May be associated with the hamate bone
Clinical Correlates
- Fracture: Common in activities like golf, baseball, and tennis
