Description
The wrist forms the proximal part of the hand and is composed of a complex of eight carpal bones, which articulate with the radius of the forearm proximally, and the metacarpal bones of the hand, distally.
The radiocarpal (wrist) joint is a condyloid or ellipsoid synovial joint, formed by the articulation of the proximal row of carpal bones (the scaphoid, lunate, and triquetrum, not the pisiform) with the distal end of the radius and the articular disc of the distal radioulnar joint. The ulna is not involved in the radiocarpal joint. The scaphoid, lunate, and triquetrum, along with their associated ligaments, form a smooth convex surface that is received by the concave surface formed by the distal radius and the articular disc of the distal radioulnar joint.
Movements at the radiocarpal joint include flexion-extension and abduction-adduction, or a successive combination of these movements resulting in circumduction.
Related parts of the anatomy
