Foraminal index on the dog femora

Abstract

Damages of the main nutrient artery during the fractures may lead to poor repair or bone infarcts. Therefore, knowledge about the localization and number of nutrient foramina of bones is important in some surgical procedures such as bone implants, fracture repair, bone grafts. Foraminal index is calculated as dividing the distance between proximal end of the bone and nutrient foramen to the total bone length. One hundred and twelve femora of the 56 mature dogs were used in this study. The general morphometric parameters of femur; the total length, the cranio-caudal and medio-lateral diameters of mid-femur were taken. The numbers of the primary and secondary nutrient foramina were determined and the foraminal index was calculated. One foramen nutricium was determined at the 88 bones while two foramen at the 24 bones. The mean foraminal index was 36.4%, between ranges of 31.8% - 55.1% in dog femora. Statistical difference of foraminal index was not determined between male and female dog femora. These data may be valuable for surgeons in cases of total hip arthroplasty, intramedullary pin, and external fixation and also on evaluating period of fracture repair after surgery.