diaphyseal nutrient foramina in human long bones: a detailed anatomical study

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present work was to study the diaphyseal nutrient foramina in human upper and lower limb long bones, as regards their number, position, size and direction. The study was performed in the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The material of the present study consisted of 600 adult human long bones of both sexes. For each bone, the number, position, size, and direction of their nutrient foramina were studied. Results showed that, with the exception of femur, the majority of the nutrient foramina in all bones studied were single in number and secondary in size. Most of the nutrient foramina were concentrated in the middle third of the shaft of bone, with the exception of tibia in which nutrient foramina were predominantly observed in its proximal third. Nutrient foramina were mostly located on the anterior surface of the shaft of the bones of upper limb and on the posterior surface of the shaft of the bones of lower limb. Although the direction of nutrient foramina followed the growing end theory, variations in the direction in some fibulae were noticed. The results of this study provides a more detailed description of the diaphyseal nutrient foramina in the long bones of the limbs and disclose some lacking information that could be useful references for orthopedic surgeon's