Morphological and Topographical Anatomy of Diaphyseal Nutrient Foramina of Dried Pakistani Fibulae.

OBJECTIVE To study the diaphyseal Nutrient Foramina (NF) of dry Pakistani fibulae morphometrically and topographically. STUDY DESIGN Descriptive cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Anatomy Department, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, from December 2013 to April 2014. METHODOLOGY The materials comprised 168 dried fibulae, 80 of left side and 88 of right side. Length of bone and distance of NF from the proximal end was calculated by placing bones on osteometric board. The Foramen Index (FI) was calculated by applying the Hughes formula, dividing the distance of the foramen from the proximal end (DNF) by the total length of the bone (TL) which was multiplied by hundred FI = (DNF/TL) x 100. RESULTS Eighty five bones (96.6%) of right side and 79 bones (98.8%) of left side had a single nutrient foramen. Mean length of left fibula was 34.690 ±2.353 cms and of right fibula 34.905 ±2.198 cms. Mean foramen index was 47.651 ±7.601 on the left side and 50.283 ±11.478 on the right side. In the right fibulae, type-1 foramen was present in one (1.13%) bone, type-2 was present in 77 (87.5%) bones and type-3 was found in 10 (11.36%) bones. In the left fibulae, type-1 foramen was not found in any bone, type-2 in 79 bones (98.75%) and type 3 in only 1 bone (1.25%). CONCLUSION This study provides important information on the topography of nutrient foramina of fibula in Pakistani population. As microvascular bone transfer is becoming more popular, such data regarding nutrient foramina will be of importance to orthopaedic surgeons.