Femoral Anteversion Angles in Dry Bones of Adult Nigerians: A Comparison of Two Methods

Version describes the angle in the axial plane subtended by the femoral neck and the femoral shaft. Femoral version varies among various major geographic and racial populations. Femoral version plays a role in some orthopaedic operations. This study documented femoral version among Nigerians comparing two methods on dry femoral bones.

This was a prospective descriptive study that involved measurements of femoral anteversion and retroversion angles on dry femoral bones using the Kingsley Olmsted (KO) method and digital measurement using a free software, IC Measure® from imaging source (The imaging source, Europe GmbH, Uberseetor 18, 28217 Bremen. Germany) Forty-eight (48) adult dry femoral bones were measured. The results obtained from these measurements were analyzed using Stata 13 (StataCorp, Texas, USA) RESULTS: The average value of anteversion angle using the Kingsley Olmsted (KO) method was 20.50 ± 5.50. The average anteversion angle using IC measure was 21.30 ± 6.00. The observed agreement was 16.67%. (Expected agreement was 5.21 %.) The measurements obtained from both KO method and digital photograph using IC measure showed high correlation with each other (r = 0.89, P < .0001).

The mean anteversion angle from this study was 20.50 ± 5.50 and 21.30 ± 6.00 using the KO and digital measurements respectively. These values further elaborated that the average anteversion angle is higher in Africans compare to other racial groups. Orthopaedic surgeons should be aware of this fact during surgical operations that involve proximal femur, such as femoral derotation, hemiarthroplasty and total hip replacement in Africans.