Geometry of carpal scaphoid in Thais: anatomical study.

In order to develop new surgical techniques on, and fixation devices for, carpal scaphoid fractures in Thais, the authors determined the mean and standard deviation of the length, width and thickness of 141 carpal scaphoid bones on 93 left and 48 right wrists from the skeletons of 99 Thai males and 42 Thai females. The deceased averaged 60 years (range, 22 to 89). The scaphoid length averaged 25.59 mm; the dorsal width at the distal, middle and proximal poles averaged 14.89, 10.23 and 7.08 mm, respectively; the palmar width at the distal, middle and proximal poles averaged 14.22, 9.81 and 7.44 mm, respectively; and the thickness at the distal, middle and proximal poles averaged 9.77, 10.96 and 9.19 mm, respectively. The authors found no signficant difference (p = 0.96) in the length and width of the Thai carpal scaphoid bone between the left and right wrist. The widths of the dorsal and palmar sides at the distal end were wider than the proximal end and tapered from the distal to the proximal pole. The thicknesses were constant throughout the length of the bone, ranging between 9 and 11 mm.