The name and sequence of carpal bones can be memorized using a simple mnemonic.
Mnemonic: Please Take Little Susy To The Coffee House
- Pisiform
- Triqueteral
- Lunate
- Scaphoid
- Trapezium
- Trapezoid
- Capitate
- Hamate
While counting start from pisiform which is the Medial most in first row and count to lateral and from there jump to the 2nd row and count from lateral to medial.
Pisiform is a sesamoid bone lying within tendon of Flexor Carpi Ulnaris
Largest carpal bone- Capitate
Carpal bone with Hook -Hamate
First Carpal bone to Ossify- Capitate
Last carpal bone to ossify- Pisiform
Most Commonly fractured carpal bone- Scaphoid
Ossification centres in carpal bones
- Capitate- 2nd month
- Hamate- 3rd month
- Triquetral- 3rd year
- Lunate- 4th year
- Scaphoid -4th-5th year
- Trapezium- 4th-5th year
- Trapezoid- 4th-5th year
- Pisiform- 9th -12th year
Two other mnemonics I’ve learned over the years for the carpal bones:
#1: Although the opposite may be true today, I think most radiographers in the U.S. used “navicular” most often to refer to the carpal bone, and “scaphoid” for the tarsal bone. And most of us learned the names this way (starting proximal row, lateral side, then distal row, again from the lateral side): “Never Lower Tillie’s Pants. Grandma (or Mother) Might Come Home” (Navicular, Lunate, Triquetral, Pisiform, Greater Multangular, Lesser Multangular, Capitate, Hamate).
2). Using Scaphoid, Trapezium & Trapezoid instead of the names above: “Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can’t Handle” (Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetral, Pisiform, Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate).