Morphometric And Morphological Study Of The Nutrient Foramina In Dry Human Humerus Bones Of Telangana Region

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The foramina which leads into a canal on the shaft, through which the vessels enter to supply themedullary cavity is called nutrient foramina. The major source of blood supply during the bone growth anddevelopment is by nutrient artery.Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 218 adult humerii. The number, direction and location ofnutrient foramen were observed with the help of a hand lens. The Total length of humerus, distance of the nutrientforamen from its upper end, Location of the nutrient foramen with respect to the surfaces, zones and the foramenindex were noted.Results: It was observed that 81.19% of the humeri had a single nutrient foramen, 18.35% double foramen, 0.45%triple foramen, where as 3.67% humeri did not have any nutrient foramina. The majority (82.11%) of the nutrientforamina were present on the antero-medial surface, 14.22% on the medial border and 9.63% on the anterolateral surface,7.8%on the posterior border and 0.46% on anterior border of the shaft of humeri. The foramenindex was observed to be 56.35 ±7.36 on right side and 55.57±8.5 on left side, indicating the zonal distributionof foramina in the middle third of the bone.Conclusion: With the increasing number of fracture cases due to various causes, the knowledge of nutrientforamina is of much importance in bone reduction and grafting techniques. The present study adds to theexisting data on nutrient foramina especially in the population of Telangana region.