Anterior compartment of the forearm – Anatomy Atlas

Table of Contents

Overview

Anterior compartment of the forearm The anterior muscles of the forearm are divided into two groups – superficial and deep. The superficial group includes the pronator teres, flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, palmaris longus and flexor digitorum superficialis muscles. Most of these muscles are shown on the left side, except for the flexor carpi ulnaris, which is shown on the right. The deep group of the anterior forearm includes the flexor digitorum profundus, flexor pollicis longus and pronator quadratus muscles, which are seen on the right. Also visible are the bones of the arm, forearm and hand, which provide the attachments for the muscles. Although the brachioradialis muscle is present in this image, it does not belong to the anterior forearm muscles. Functionally it is a flexor of the elbow joint, however, based on its location, it belongs to the superficial group of posterior compartment muscles and is covered in the corresponding study unit.

Keypoints

Key facts about the anterior compartment muscles of the forearm
Superficial group	Pronator teres muscle Flexor carpi radialis muscle Flexor carpi ulnaris muscle Palmaris longus muscle Flexor digitorum superficialis muscle
Deep group	Flexor digitorum profundus muscle Flexor pollicis longus muscle Pronator quadratus muscle
Innervation	Median nerve (except for flexor carpi ulnaris and the ulnar half of flexor digitorum profundus which are supplied by the ulnar nerve)
Function	Movements (flexion, abduction, adduction, pronation) of the forearm, hand and fingers