The interosseous muscles of the hand are muscles found near the

metacarpal In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus form the intermediate part of the skeletal hand located between the phalanges of the fingers and the carpal bones of the wrist, which forms the connection to the forearm. The metacarpal bones ar ...

bones that help to control the fingers. They are considered voluntary muscles. They are generally divided into two sets: * 4 Dorsal interossei - Abduct the digits away from the 3rd digit (away from axial line) and are bipennate. * 3

Palmar interossei In human anatomy, the palmar or volar interossei (interossei volares in older literature) are three small, unipennate muscles in the hand that lie between the metacarpal bones and are attached to the index, ring, and little fingers. They are sm ...

- Adduct the digits towards the 3rd digit (towards the axial line) and are unipennate. This is often remembered by the mnemonic PAD-DAB, as the Palmar interosseous muscles ADduct, and the Dorsal interosseous muscles ABduct. The axial line goes down the middle of the 3rd digit, towards the palm of the hand (it's an imaginary line). Both sets of muscles are innervated by the deep branch of the ulnar nerve.

References

Muscles of the upper limb Hand Medical mnemonics {{Muscle-stub