Exam category: Procedures → Extremity
Why it matters: The hand and wrist carry the densest positioning detail of any region — four anatomic areas (finger, thumb, hand, wrist), each with a routine series, a part position, a centering point, and an evaluation criterion, plus eight carpal bones you're expected to name and locate. The scaphoid alone gets two dedicated projections because it is the most frequently fractured carpal and the easiest to miss on a routine PA.
Work distal to proximal: fingers → thumb → hand → wrist. Routine series follow the same pattern everywhere (PA, lateral, PA oblique), and the special views exist for the one case routine views can't handle — the scaphoid, which sits at an angle to the receptor and hides behind its neighbors. The limb continues in Forearm and elbow, then Shoulder girdle.
The names are easiest to learn as two transverse rows of four. Starting on the lateral (thumb) side each time:
The scaphoid is the largest bone of the proximal row, articulates with the radius, and is the most frequently fractured carpal — which is why it gets its own projections. The capitate is the largest carpal overall, and the pisiform the smallest. The hamate carries the hooklike hamulus on its palmar surface.
Answer this to keep going. 10 more sections unlock below.
A PA wrist question asks you to point to the largest of the eight carpal bones. Which one is it?
Section 1 of 11. Answer the check to keep going.