"anatomical snuffbox"

anatomical snuffbox

Anatomical snuffbox
Image source: Queen Mary College, London.

The anatomical snuffbox is a term commonly used to described a triangular depression on the lateral side of the wrist that is bounded medially by the tendon of extensor pollicis longus and laterally by the tendons of abductor pollicis longus and extensor pollicis brevis. Its clinical importance lies in the fact that the scaphoid bone is most easily palpated here and that the pulsations of the radial artery can be felt.