Abstract

Background: The major blood supply of long bone is from the nutrient arteries, these nutrient arteries enter the bone through a foramen called nutrient foramen. This is an opening into the shaft of a bone. Nutrient foramen gives passage to the blood vessels of the bone. The nutrient foramen has a particular position for every bone and the direction of foramen is away from growing end of bone. Objective: The aim of the present study was to study the anatomy and morphology of the nutrient foramina in human lower limb long bones. Materials and Method: The study was performed on 120 lower limb long bones which included 40 femur, 40 tibia and 40 fibula. The bones were obtained from department of anatomy, R.K.D.F Medical college hospital & research centre and R.K.D.F Dental college & hospital Bhopal. Results: The variations were found in number and position of nutrient foramen in different lower limb long bones. Double and triple foramina were observed in femur. In few lower limb long bones nutrient foramen was absent. Conclusion: The knowledge of these foramina is useful in orthopaedics certain operative procedures as well as in plastic and reconstructive surgery, to avoid harm to the nutrient artery.

Authors and Affiliations