#abductor

• Abducting structure (archaic) — An old or regional anatomical term previously used to describe a muscular structure, ligament, or shunt canal that causes a deviation, abduction, or direction change of a physiological flow or a body segment. In early translations of medical textbooks and dissection treatises into Romanian, the word was employed as an equivalent for abductor muscles (which move a limb away from the body's midline).
• Abductor — An anatomical designation applied to any muscle or nerve that performs or coordinates the movement of abduction (moving a segment away from the body axis). In neuropsychiatric examination, the tone and strength of abductor segments (such as the abductor hallucis muscle or the lateral rectus muscle of the eye) are evaluated to diagnose myopathies, nerve paresis, or catatonic states of muscular resistance.