Study of Frequency of the Palmaris Longus Muscle in Chilean Subjects

Abstract

The palmaris longus muscle (PLM) lies on the anterior region of the forearm, it is considered one of the most variable muscles in the human body, and its agenesis is the most frequent anatomic variation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of the PLM tendon in Chilean adults and also, to verify the agenesis symmetry according to sex. For this, we have analyzed the presence of the PLM tendon in 200 Chilean individuals, 114 female and 86 male. In this study, three different tests were used: Schaeffer's Test, Mishra's First Test and Thompson's Test. The obtained data were tabled and analyzed. It could be observed that 91% of the individuals had the PLM muscle tendon in at least one of the forearms and 80% in both forearms. The unilateral agenesis was found in 11% of the cases (5% on the right side and 6% on the left side) and bilateral agenesis was found in 9% of cases. When analyzing the frequency of the muscular tendon according to sex, we could observe that the PLM is more commonly found in men (82.56%) than in women (78.07%) (p > 0.05). Besides, we could observe that the agenesis is most frequent on the left side in women however, no significant statistical difference could be observed when the symmetry according to sex was analyzed (p > 0.05).