Morphometric Study of Bicipital Groove from Dry Adult Humerus

Abstract

Background: Bicipital groove, the narrow sulcus present between the greater and lesser tubercles of proximal humerus, is an important anatomic landmark during prosthetic replacement of humeral head. Bicipital groove variations are associated with diseases of biceps tendon causing painful shoulder. The study aims to outline the morphometry of bicipital groove and create some baseline data which may be useful in arthroplasties and interpretation of radiologic anatomy of the shoulder.
Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 100 dry humerus bones from convenience sampling of dry bones available at the Department of Anatomy, Maharajgunj Medical Campus. The length of bone was measured with osteometric board. Side of bone was determined. The length, width and depth of bicipital groove was measured with Vernier calipers. Data was analyzed in SPSS version 17 and frequencies, descriptive statistics were calculated along with bivariate analysis using independent samples T-test and Pearson’s correlation.
Results: Out of the total 100 humeri studied, the mean length was 296.7 mm (22.04 SD). Mean length, width and depth of bicipital groove were 69.6 mm (6.6 SD), 6.34 mm (1.64 SD), and 5.75 mm(1.5 SD) respectively. The length and width of bicipital groove were positively correlated with length of bone.
Conclusions: The study investigated the morphometry of bicipital groove and its relation with length of humerus. The findings will have potential implications in clinical and surgical practice including shoulder prosthesis and arthroplasty.
Keywords: Bone morphometry; humerus; upper extremity.