Advanced Flexor Digiti Minimi Brevis Quiz

Q1. How can a lateral plantar nerve lesion affect flexor digiti minimi brevis?

• It causes isolated ankle dorsiflexion weakness
• It can weaken flexion of the fifth toe at the metatarsophalangeal joint
• It abolishes knee extension
• It causes isolated loss of great-toe extension

Q2. Why would isolated paralysis of flexor digiti minimi brevis not abolish all fifth-toe flexion?

• The quadriceps directly flexes the fifth toe
• The Achilles tendon inserts on the fifth proximal phalanx
• Other intrinsic and extrinsic muscles can still act on the fifth toe
• The fifth toe has no other muscular attachments

Q3. Why is the muscle's relationship to the fifth metatarsal clinically relevant in lateral forefoot surgery?

• It lies only at the medial ankle
• It is contained inside the talus
• It passes through the popliteal fossa
• It lies close to operative planes around the plantar fifth metatarsal

Q4. How does the insertion of flexor digiti minimi brevis determine its mechanical action?

• Its tendon crosses only the subtalar joint
• Its tendon passes plantar to the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint axis
• Its tendon inserts on the tibial tuberosity
• Its tendon passes dorsal to the ankle axis

Q5. Why can anatomical variation make this muscle difficult to distinguish during dissection?

• It is absent from the plantar foot in all adults
• It normally arises from the femur
• It always has two completely separate heads
• Its slips and boundaries can vary or blend with neighboring muscles

Q6. Which finding would favor a nerve lesion rather than an isolated muscle tear?

• Weakness of other lateral plantar nerve supplied muscles
• Pain limited to a single tendon attachment
• An isolated bruise over the fifth metatarsal
• Normal function of every neighboring muscle

Q7. How can flexor digiti minimi brevis contribute to forefoot control during push-off?

• It elevates the medial malleolus
• It can stabilize the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint as load moves through the forefoot
• It locks the knee in extension
• It directly plantarflexes the talus

Q8. Why does injury to the deep branch of the lateral plantar nerve alone not necessarily denervate flexor digiti minimi brevis?

• Its motor fibers travel in the deep fibular nerve
• Its usual motor supply arises from the superficial branch
• It is supplied by the femoral nerve
• It has no motor innervation

Q9. How does flexor digiti minimi brevis differ functionally from the plantar interossei?

• It abducts the great toe
• It is primarily a fifth-toe flexor rather than a principal toe adductor
• It is the main extensor of all toes
• It primarily dorsiflexes the ankle

Q10. Which statement best integrates the anatomy of flexor digiti minimi brevis?

• It is an extrinsic posterior leg muscle that inserts on the calcaneus
• It is a third-layer lateral plantar intrinsic muscle that flexes the fifth toe and receives superficial lateral plantar nerve supply
• It is a first-layer medial muscle that abducts the great toe
• It is a dorsal muscle supplied by the deep fibular nerve