Study of Incidence and Location of Nasal Foramen in Nasal Bone of Adult Dry Skulls.

The nasal bones are miniature, quadrangular, and symmetrical bones occurring in pairs. Substantial literature describes nasal bone like single nasal bone, absent and hypoplastic nasal bones. But there is very scanty literature elucidating number and its incidence along with its location of nasal foramen from various landmarks. Hence the study was conducted. The aim of the study is to describe incidence, number and associated clinical significance of nasal foramen located on nasal bones. The study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy using 76 skulls with 76 right and 76 left nasal bones. The nasal foramina were observed by visual inspection. The distances of the nasal foramina from various landmarks were measured with the divider carried on the scale. The incidence, mean and SD of distances of nasal foramina from landmarks were calculated using IBM SPSS software, version 25. The single, double, and triple nasal foramina were detected in 47.3%, 1.3%, and 0.7% nasal bones. The distances of nasal foramina from internasal suture are 2.6±0.9​​​​​​ and 2.0±0.8 mm on right and left sides, respectively, that between nasomaxillary suture on right and left sides are 3.5±1.2 and 3.3±0.9 mm, respectively, while the distances between nasal foramina and frontonasal suture on right and left sides are 9.2±2.2 and 9.4±1.5 mm, respectively. The thorough information of incidence and location of nasal foramina is very essential for performing septoplasty, rhinoplasty, and management of nasal bone fractures.