Abstract

Humerus is the long bone located in the arm. The Nutrient foramen is an opening in the bone shaft. It allows the passage of nutrient artery which gives nourishment to the bone. The nutrient artery is the principal blood supply for long bones. Supratrochlear foramen is a small hole located at the distal epiphysis of the humerus. The supratrochlear foramen communicates the olecranon fossa with the coronoid fossa & is present over the trochlea of lower end of humerus. The main aim of the study is to determine the location, number and direction of nutrient foramen in relation to the growing end of adult humeri and also to observe the morphological features like incidence and shape of the supratrochlear foramen. Material and Methods: A total number 100 adult humeri were used for this study. The bones were observed for direction, location and number of nutrient foramen and incidence and shape of the supra trochlear foramen. The collected data was analyzed by using the SPSS software and the results were tabulated. Results: In the present study 95% of bones have single, 4% have double and 1% have triple nutrient foramina respectively. The location of nutrient foramina is found to be antero- medial surface in majority of the bones 94%, posterior surface in 4%, anterolateral surface in 1% and absent in 1% of bones. The direction of nutrient foramen is towards the elbow joint. In majority of the bones 91% nutrient foramina were located in the mid third of shaft of humerus, 8% in lower third and 1% in upper third. The supra trochlear foramen is seen in 18% of the bones. Among the 18 bones supra trochlear foramen is round in 10 humeri and oval in 8. Conclusion: The chief blood supply to the shaft of humerus is by a nutrient artery passing through the nutrient foramen. The knowledge of the location and direction of nutrient foramen is useful in surgical procedures done over humerus such as open reduction of fracture humerus, in newer transplantation and bone grafting techniques being attempted by orthopedic surgeons. The incidence of supratrochlear foramen is varies from one population to other. Knowing the incidence in this population will be helpful to the orthopedic surgeons and radiologists for operative procedures and diagnosis.

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