Morphological variations of talar articular facets on calcaneum with clinical importance in South Bengal population

Abstract Background: Calcaneum, the largest tarsal bone, makes the subtalar joint with talas. In the majority, calcaneum has three articular facets – anterior, middle, and posterior for the talus on its superior surface. Morphological and morphometric variations of the talar articular facets have been a topic of interest for anatomists for several decades. Knowledge regarding these variations is important for clinicians during surgeries such as calcaneal osteotomy and repairing of different calcaneal fractures. Objective: The objective of the study was to classify calcaneum on morphological variations of talar facets on its superior surface and to note the association of calcaneal spur with it. Materials and Methods: After obtaining permission from the Institute Ethics Committee, we examined 216 dry human calcanea (both right and left side) of unknown age and sex from different medical colleges in West Bengal. We looked for different morphological variations of talar facets on calcaneum as well as any bony spicules. It was an Institution-based observational descriptive study in the Department of Anatomy, IPGMER. Results: Out of 216 calcanea (right – 96; left – 120), type A and type B1 were observed in 24.07%, type B2 in 37.04%, which was the maximum in number, and type B4 in 14.8%. We did not observe any calcaneum of type B3 or C. Association of bony spicule with three-faceted calcaneum was found much less (38.46%) than calcaneum with two facets (58.54%). Conclusion: Our study revealed that type B2 calcaneum is maximum among the South Bengal population, and the chance of development of calcaneal spur in this group of population is high.