A Morphometric and Radiological Study of Sacral Hiatus in Human Adult Sacra and Its Clinical Relevance in Caudal...

Background: The knowledge of sacral hiatus anatomy is crucial in clinical situations requiring caudal epidural block for various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of the lumbosacral spine to avoid complications and failure rate. This study was undertaken to compare morphometric characteristics of sacral hiatus in human dry sacra and pelvic radiographs for placing the needle more accurately in the sacral hiatus landmarks to permit correct, painless, and uncomplicated caudal epidural accesses. Materials and methods: The present study was done on 138 human adult dry sacra and 110 anteroposterior lumbosacral spine radiographs of the North Karnataka region of India. Sacral hiatus was evaluated in each sacrum based on its shape, level of its apex, and base according to sacral and coccygeal vertebrae, length, anteroposterior diameter at its apex, and transverse width at its base. Results:The mean length of sacral hiatus in men and women was 27.81+1.17 mm and 24.73+2.21 mm, respectively. The mean anteroposterior diameter of the sacral hiatus at the apex was 6.24+2.73 mm in males and 6.63+2.81 mm in females. The transverse width of the sacral hiatus at the base was 17.56+1.81 mm in males and 17.92+2.59 mm in females. The location of the apex of sacral hiatus was the highest in number at the level of the fourth sacral vertebra (23.63%). The location of apex in radiographs of all lumbosacral spine S3 showed 49.09% maximum. The location of the base of the sacral hiatus was observed in the dry sacra at the level of the fifth sacral vertebra (64.54%). In the present study, different shapes of the sacral hiatus were recorded. The most common shape in males and females was inverted U shape (42.02%), followed by inverted V shape (26.08%) and dumbbell shape (12.31%). The least common shape was observed in the bifid sacra (5.07%). In 2.17% of cases, sacral hiatus was absent. Percentage of absence, agenesis, irregular, and bifid shapes were found rather in female than male sacra. An anteroposterior view of spine radiograph showed sacral hiatus agenesis in both females (7.81%) and males (4.34%). The anatomical knowledge of sacral hiatus and its variations are important in caudal epidural anesthesia, and it may improve the success rate of caudal epidural anesthesia.