Anatomical study of Foramen Spinosum among adult Human Dry Skulls of Delta State University, Abraka and University of Benin

There is relatively scanty data on the anthropometric study of the foramen spinosum in Nigeria and therefore due to the great surgical and diagnostic importance in procedures like percutaneous trigeminal rizotomy in trigeminal neuralgia and transfacial fine needle aspiration technique. Aim This cross‐sectional study aim to investigate the variation in the right and left length and width of the foramen spinosum. Method A sample of seventy (70) Adult dry human skulls were investigated in this study. The skulls were obtained from the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, Delta State University, Abraka, and the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Benin. The foramen spinosum was observed from the extracranial view of the skull base. The types of foramen spinosum was noted as per the classification given by Anju such as round, oval, irregular and pin‐hole shapes. Anatomic variations of the foramen were also noted. The Oblique measures were recorded for the foramen spinosum, classifying length as anteroposterior diameter and width as transverse diameter using a digital camera. Results showed that majority of the right 57(81.4%) and left 56(80.0%) foramen spinosum were round. The mean value of right and left length of foramen spinosum was 24.01±2.34 and left length of foramen spinosum was 20.10±1.13 respectively and the mean value of right and left width of foramen spinosum was 32.19±1.67 and left width of foramen spinosum was 29.25±1.10 respectively. Conclusion From these findings, it can be concluded that the most prevalent shape of foramen spinosum was seen to be round while oval was seen in little percentage with absence of the pin hole shaped foramen spinosum. The right length of foramen spinosum was larger compared to the left length of foramen spinosum and this was statistically significant with p‐value (0.004). Support or Funding Information NIL Table 3, The mean value of right and left length of foramen spinosum was 24.01±2.34 and left length of foramen spinosum was 20.10±1.13 respectively. Table 4, The mean value of right and left width of foramen spinosum was 32.19±1.67 and left width of foramen spinosum was 29.25±1.10 respectively. Table 2 shows the frequency distribution of shapes of left foramen spinosum. Majority of the left foramen spinosum were round, 56(80.0%).Frequency distribution of shapes of right foramen spinosumRight foramen spinosum shape Observed ExpectedRound 57 81.4Oval 12 17.1Irregular 1 1.4Total 70 100.0Frequency distribution of shapes of left foramen spinosumLeft foramen spinosum shape Observed ExpectedRound 56 80.0Oval 12 17.1Irregular 2 2.9Total 70 100.0Descriptive statistics of the right and left length of foramen spinosumParameters Mean Std. Dev. Min. Stat. Max Stat.Right length of foramen spinosum 24.01 2.34 20.19 28.81Left length of foramen spinosum 20.10 1.13 17.97 22.55Descriptive statistics of the light and left width of foramen spinosumParameters Mean Std. Dev. Min. Stat. Max Stat.Right width of foramen spinosum 32.19 1.67 29.03 34.42Left width of foramen spinosum 29.25 1.10 25.10 31.91