While sharpening his knife, a 23-year-old male soldier accidentally punctured the ventral side of the fifth digit at the base of the distal phalanx. The wound became infected, and within a few days the infection has spread into the palm, within the sheath of the flexor digitorum profundus tendons. If the infection were left untreated, into which of the following spaces could it most likely spread?
The infectious agent was introduced into the synovial sheath of the long tendons of the little (fifth) finger. Proximally, this sheath runs through the mid-palmar space, and inflammatory processes typically rupture into this space unless aggressively treated with the appropriate antibiotics.
Central compartment
Hypothenar compartment
Mid-palmar space
Thenar compartment
Upper Extremity