An anatomical study on types of calcaneal facets on talus and co relation between squatting facets and angles of neck

Abstract

Introduction: Talus is a short, compact bone with muscular attachments. Its head and body are oriented in specific manner. Thus it is subjected to modifications due to change of direction of forces by adapting different postures. Here we present an anatomical study on types of calcaneal articular facet and squatting facet with emphasis on anatomical co-relation of squatting facet with different angles at the neck of Talus. Materials and Methods: Total 125 dry tali (right-64 and left-61) were studied with no anomalies or pathology. We observed types of calcaneal articular facet on tali, squatting facet, angle of deviation (AD), angle of inclination (AI) were measured. Statistical evaluation of the measured indices was done. Result and Conclusion: Type II articular facet was the most common type of articular facet on calcaneal surface of tali, 2nd most common being Type I. Squatting facet was observed on 44% of tali on right side while 37.5% tali on left side Average AD and AI were 26 and 125 respectively. We found significantly high AI on right sided tali than left sided. No significant co-relation was observed between the AD and presence or absence of squatting facet but in those tali where squatting facet was present, angle of inclination was significantly larger. We conclude that incidence of calcaneal articular facet and modification on neck of talus (squatting facet with high AI) are attributed to differences in race, habitual activities, posture, gait and level of plane used for locomotion by Indian population. Keywords: Tali, Squatting facet, Neck of tali, Articular facet.