Morphometric analysis of vascular foramina in Indian dry calcaneus and its clinical applications

Abstract

Introduction: The calcaneus is the largest tarsal bone of hindfoot and its fractures are most difficult to treat. The knowledge about the vascular foramina is important to understand the pathogenesis and its surgical management. Aim: The scope of the present study is to generate morphological data in the form of location, size, and numbers of vascular foramina of calcaneus, as well as the length of calcaneus, to generate foramina index and their frequency of distribution in the dry calcaneus. Materials and Methods: The present study consisted of 118 (59 right and 59 left) dried human calcaneus. The bones were macroscopically studied for vascular foramina with respect to its size, location, numbers, and foramina index were determined. The data collected were statistically analyzed. Results: A total of 3112 vascular foramina were found on the right and left calcaneus. Kruskal–Wallis test showed that there was a statistically significant difference in a total number of vascular foramina over different surfaces of calcaneus (P ≤ 0.00001). Mann–Whitney U-test done for post hoc analysis proved that the total number of the vascular foramina observed on the lateral surface was significantly greater than the vascular foramina detected over other surfaces. The lateral and medial surfaces were presented with maximum number of foramina while posterior surface showed least number of the vascular foramina. Conclusion: We believe that the present study has provided additional data on vascular foramina of calcaneus in the Indian population, which will be an anatomical guide to surgical interventions involving the calcaneus bone.