Morphometric variations of the jugular foramen of the human skull in south Indian population

The jugular foramen is a hiatus located at the base of the skull. The ninth, tenth and eleventh cranial nerves pass through this foramen. The increasing use of modern diagnostic procedures and new surgical approaches has created a need for detailed anatomical studies of the foramen. Hundred dry south Indian human skulls were collected from the Department of Anatomy Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center and a study was undertaken to measure the size of jugular foramen. The length, width and depth of jugular foramen on both sides were measured using digital Vernier callipers and the incidence of septation of jugular foramen was noted. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Version 21. The Independent Sample t test was used after checking the normality of the data. In 57% of skulls length of jugular foramen on right was more than on the left. It was observed that 21 skulls had complete septa on the right and 18 had complete septa on the left, while 79 skulls had incomplete septa on the right and 82 skulls had incomplete septa on the left side. It was observed that Jugular foramen was larger on the right which was statistically significant.