Ape hand deformity

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ape-hand-deformity

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the clinical syndrome?A manifestation of distal median nerve injury
2. What is the primary neurological deficit?Impaired function of the thenar muscles, particularly the opponens pollicis
3. Why does the thumb stay stuck in a bent position?The injury stops the muscle that helps the thumb turn across the palm, so the thumb stays in a more folded, hand‑like shape.
4. How does a median nerve injury cause ape hand deformity?The median nerve sends signals to thumb muscles; when it is damaged, those muscles lose power and the thumb can’t move properly.

Median Nerve: A mixed nerve originating from the brachial plexus, innervating forearm muscles and thenar muscles of the hand.
Thumb Opposition: The biomechanical movement of the first metacarpal allowing the thumb pad to contact the pads of other digits.
Thenar Eminence: The fleshy, muscular prominence at the base of the thumb on the palm side of the hand.
Muscle Atrophy: The wasting or decrease in size of a muscle due to disease or lack of use.