Bony Spurs on Femur: A Morphological Study of Dried Pakistani Femora

Abstract

Formation of new bone or bone spurs usually occur at two main sites: the joint margin (osteophytes) and ligament/ tendon insertions (enthesophytes) in degenerative joint disorders. Both osteophytes and enthesophytes are thought to be the skeletal responses to stress. An osteophyte is a bony spur that is formed as the lateral outgrowth of bone at the margin of the articular surface of a synovial joint. The osteophytes formation is an adaptive reaction as a result of joint instability commonly seen in degenerative disorders of joints. An enthesophyte is a bony spur formed at a ligament or tendon insertion into bone, and often develops in parallel with osteophytes at the periphery of articular cartilage. Type of Study: Descriptive cross sectional study Objectives: To find out the incidence of bony spurs on femora of Pakistani population Materials and Methods: Present study was conducted on dried Pakistani femora in the Anatomy Departments of Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore and Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College, Sialkot. For this purpose,177 dried adult femora were included. They were closely observed for the presence of bony spurs . Results: Only 4 out of 177 femora showed presence of bony spurs. All of the four spurs were present on upper end of femur. Three were found on left femur and only one was present on right femur.The bones were photographed.This shows the incidence of 2.26%. Conclusion: Finding of bony spurs on dried femora of Pakistani population contributes to the data of anatomical variations and to raise awareness about formation of osteophytes on femur which might play a role in diagnosis of degenerative joint disorders of hip joint. Osteophytes located on neck of femur may occur either as an early stage of hip osteoarthritis or for some independent reason