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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1787871
Original Article

Normative Values for Thumb Length in Central Indian Adult Population

Pawan Agarwal 
1   Department of Plastic Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
M. R. Thatte
2   Department of Plastic Surgery, Bombay Hospital Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Mansi Saraf
3   Department of Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Rajesh Bobba
3   Department of Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Dhananjaya Sharma
3   Department of Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Jagmoah Singh Dhakar
4   Department of Community Medicine, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
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Abstract

Introduction This article aims to establish the relative thumb length in comparison to the index finger in central Indian adults.

Materials and Methods Five hundred normal adult hands (1,000 thumbs), 316 men and 184 women, mean age 30 years, were included in the study. The relative length of the thumb was measured using the length of the proximal phalanx of the index finger (thumb–proximal phalanx index) and the distance between the proximal digital crease and proximal interphalangeal crease of the index finger (thumb–digital crease index).

Results The tip of a normal adducted thumb extends to 69% of the length of the proximal phalanx of the index finger and 38% of the distance between the two proximal creases of the index finger. The tip of a normal adducted thumb extends to 68% for male and 69% for female of the length of the proximal phalanx of the index finger. For the dominant hand the tip of a normal adducted thumb extends to 68%, while for nondominant hand it reaches 71% of the length of the proximal phalanx of the index finger. The difference between the laterality, gender, and hand dominance was not statistically significant.

Conclusion The tip of a normal adducted thumb extends to 69% of the length of the proximal phalanx of the index finger and 38% of the distance between the two proximal creases of the index finger. Relative normal thumb length is independent of gender, laterality, or hand dominance.

Keywords

normative data - thumb length - central Indian adult - anthropometry

Authors' Contributions

P.A. was responsible for data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing, and editing. M.R.T. contributed to conceptualization, data analysis, manuscript writing, and editing. M.S. focused on data collection and data analysis, while R.B. also handled data collection and data analysis. D.S. took part in manuscript writing and editing, and J.S.D. was involved in data analysis.




Publication History

Article published online:
25 June 2024

© 2024. Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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