Aim: Fractures of metacarpals are commonly encountered in hand surgery. For adequate fixation, a thorough knowledge about the anatomy is essential. While fixing the metacarpals with plates and screws, plates are bent to contour the dorsal surface. However, there are no reference values in literature for the location and degree of angulation. The authors studied the dorsal surface of metacarpals in cadavers to gather data regarding the location and degree of angulation of the dorsal cortex.