ABSTRACT
Background: Nutrient foramen is an opening in the bone shaft which allows passage to the blood vessels of themedullary cavity of a bone for its nourishment and growth. Knowledge about precise location and direction ofthe nutrient artery of long bones is important during any surgical or orthopaedic procedures of limbs, such asbone grafts and microsurgical vascular bone transplantations. This study was carried to record the number,situation and position of nutrient foramina in humerus of adults in south Indian population.Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 85(Right-38, Left-47) humerii collected from AnatomyDepartment of Coimbatore Medical College, Coimbatore. Length of each humerus bone was measured with thehelp of osteometric board. With the help of hand lens bones were observed for the number, direction andlocation of nutrient foramen with respect to the surface and borders.Results: In the present study majority of humerus bones have single nutrient foramen(64.7%) and mainly locatedon the anteromedial surface(51.7%) followed by medial border (36.5%) especially in the middle one third (87.1%)of the humerus.Conclusion: This study may give precise knowledge about location and number of nutrient foramina which isimportant for orthopaedic surgeons during surgical procedures such as fracture repair, bone grafts andmicrosurgeries.
ABSTRACT
Background: The human orbit is a complex anatomic region. Each of its four bony walls has its own uniquefeatures and is perforated by a number of fissures and foramina that carry important nerves and blood vessels.This is an anatomical region which is of clinical & surgical interest to many disciplines like ophthalmology, oraland maxillofocial surgery and neurosurgery. This morphometric study is undertaken to provide the normalreference values of roof and floor of the orbit in south Indian population.Materials and Methods: The study was done on 200 skulls (105 males and 95 females). The length of orbital roofand floor were measured by using manual vernier caliper. All the data obtained were tabulated and analysedstatistically by computing descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation and range. Mann-Whitney testwas done to find out the statistical significance of all parameters of orbits, with respect to gender and side (rightand left side).Results: The results showed that the length of orbital roof and floor were significantly larger in males than infemales. There were no significant differences in between the right and left side orbits.Conclusion: This study has compared the orbital roof and floor length between the genders and between the sidesof the skulls. The prior knowledge of the orbital parameters may help to restore the normal anatomy of the orbitduring maxillofacial and reconstructive surgeries.