Carpals- trapezium

Anterior view, left side

Posterior view, left side

A mnemonic for the carpals is "Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can't Handle!" I am not sure what that means. The mnemonic starts with the most lateral bone of the proximal row and works medially, then moves to the distal row, again starting with the most lateral bone and works medially. The "T" from "That" is for the trapezium. So it is in the distal row and it is the most lateral carpal of that row. So you might ask yourself, if you were a Talking Head, "There are three bones starting with "t" so how do I know which one is the trapezium?". Well Dr. J came up with another mnemonic to help here - what a guy! In the distal row there are two bones with nearly the same name, the trapezium and the trapezoid. They are arranged alphabetically when one moves from lateral to medial. So the trapezium is the more lateral of the two and the trapezoid is the more medial of the two. I hope that helps.