Morphological and morphometric features of scaphoid bone in north eastern population, India

A study was performed to analyse the morphometry and morphological variants of adult scaphoid bone in Sikkimese population of North Eastern India. The study included 100 dry human scaphoid bones. The bones which had previous signs of fracture were excluded. The morphometric parameters were measured with vernier caliper of 0.02 mm accuracy; the circumferences were measured by placing a thread around them and measuring its length. A magnifying lens was used to observe the number of foramina. From our observations, 22 (44%) of the left scaphoid were having conical shape and 28 (56%) were pyramidal in shape. On the right side, 36 (72%) had conical shape and 14 (28%) were pyramidal. All the bones had waist, except one right sided scaphoid (2%) in which the waist was absent. The scaphoid had main dorsal sulcus in 63% of cases, 29% had two dorsal sulci and 6% had Y shaped sulci. The dorsal sulcus was absent in 3 cases (1 on left side and 2 on the right side). All the scaphoids had a minimum of one foramen in the main dorsal sulcus and 92% had more than one foramen. The present study has provided the additional information on morphology and morphometry of adult human scaphoid bones in north eastern population, India. We believe that the data obtained from the present study are important for the hand surgeons and radiologists. The details obtained will also be helpful for the morphologists and clinical anatomists.