Flexor Carpi Ulnaris, Medial View

Description

Seen from the medial aspect of a male forearm, the flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) occupies the ulnar border of the superficial flexor compartment, running from its broad proximal origin near the medial epicondyle and olecranon toward the ulnar side of the wrist. The humeral head lies anteromedial to the elbow joint, while the ulnar head arises along the proximal ulna, with the muscle belly tapering distally into a tendon that courses superficial to the flexor retinaculum. Along its path the FCU sits medial to flexor digitorum superficialis and anterior to the ulna, and its distal attachment aligns with the pisiform, continuing via the pisohamate and pisometacarpal ligaments toward the hook of hamate and base of the fifth metacarpal. Orientation is clear. This medial perspective matters because the ulnar nerve passes between the humeral and ulnar heads of FCU just distal to the medial epicondyle, a common site of irritation in cubital tunnel syndrome and a key landmark during ulnar nerve decompression or transposition. Distally, the FCU tendon helps define the ulnar-sided wrist anatomy that clinicians palpate when assessing FCU tendinopathy, pisotriquetral pain, or ulnar-sided wrist sprain, and it provides a stable reference when teaching why Guyon canal symptoms occur volar to the pisiform rather than within the carpal tunnel. Small distances. Use this artwork in upper limb anatomy courses, hand surgery teaching files, and sports medicine materials that address ulnar-sided wrist pain and elbow neuropathies, where accurate layer relationships between superficial flexors and neurovascular structures matter for examination and operative planning. It also reads well in textbook spreads and patient-facing procedure consent diagrams that need a clean medial forearm map from medial epicondyle to pisiform. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.