A STUDY OF DORSAL SACRAL AGENESIS IN THE REGION OF EASTERN UTTAR PRADESH

Background: Sacrum is a triangular shaped irregular bone formed by fusion of five sacral vertebrae. Sacrum is also called ‘Hieron osteon’ meaning the holy or sacred bone. Methods: The present study has been carried out on 98 completely ossified undamaged dry human sacra of undetermined age and sex in the department of Anatomy in the population of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Each sacrum is examined for the agenesis of the dorsal surface. Representative photographs of different sacrum having partial or complete agenesis on the dorsal surface are taken using a digital camera Result: Elongated sacral hiatus i.e. length more than 40 mm was seen in 5 (5.1%) bones. Maximum sacral hiatal length of 52.6 mm was noted. Elongated sacral hiatus were of two types i.e. inverted U and inverted V shaped. 4 (4.08%) bones showed partial dorsal agenesis of sacrum. Complete dorsal agenesis was seen in 1 sacrum. One bones with absent sacral hiatus was seen. Conclusion: Various anomalies on dorsal surface of sacrum were seen in Indian population. Knowledge of these variations will be of help to the Anaesthetists. We conclude that, variant anatomy on dorsal surface of sacrum make administration of caudal epidural anaesthesia difficult. So ultrasound or fluroscopic guidance leads to better patient outcome while giving caudal blocks. Keywords: Dorsal sacral agenesis, sacral hiatus, caudal epidural block