Bone · Hand

Carpal bones

Ossa carpi

The carpals are the eight small bones of the wrist, packed into two rows of four. No single one of them moves much, but they all glide a little against each other, and the sum of those small glides is the wrist's bend, tilt and side-to-side movement. Seen end-on the two rows form an arch, and a tough band across the front of that arch closes it into the carpal tunnel — the passage the finger flexor tendons and the median nerve run through into the palm.