MORPHOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF NUTRIENT FORAMINA OF FEMUR

The major blood supply to long bones occurs through nutrient arteries which enter through the nutrient foramina. The knowledge about the morphology and topography of the nutrient foramen is essential in certain surgical procedures like fracture treatment and microvascular bone grafting. The present study analysed the number, position, location and direction of nutrient foramina in fifty adult dry Femur bones. 52 % showed the presence of single foramen.46% showed double foramina and 2 % were with absent foramen. Out of the total 72 foramina 59 foramina were dominant .80.56 % foramina were located in the middle one third of the shaft of Femur bone. 41.67 % were located within the two lips of linea aspera. Key words : Femur, nutrient foramen, linea aspera