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 causes isolated loss of great-toe extension
• It abolishes knee 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
• The fifth toe has no other muscular attachments
• Other intrinsic and extrinsic muscles can still act on the fifth toe

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

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

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

• Its tendon crosses only the subtalar joint
• Its tendon passes dorsal to the ankle axis
• Its tendon inserts on the tibial tuberosity
• Its tendon passes plantar to the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint 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 always has two completely separate heads
• It normally arises from the femur
• 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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