Ligament · Hand

Dorsal intercarpal ligaments

Ligamenta intercarpalia dorsalia

Transverse bands lying across the back of the carpus, passing from the triquetral on the little-finger side to the lunate, the scaphoid and the trapezoid on the thumb side. They meet the dorsal radiocarpal ligament at the triquetral, and together the two form the sideways V that keeps the proximal row of carpal bones from drifting as the wrist moves. Crossing the waist of the scaphoid on the way, they are among the restraints that stop that bone rotating out of line with its neighbours. Only the extensor tendons and a thin sheet of fascia cover them, which is why the back of the wrist feels bony and taut where the palm feels padded.