Surgical Anatomy of the Glenoid Cavity and Its Use in Shoulder Arthroplasty Among the North Indian Population

Background and objective The head of the humerus articulates with the glenoid cavity (GC) to form the shoulder joint. Understanding the various shapes and sizes of GC is important not only to analyse the stability of the glenohumeral joint but also to design prostheses for shoulder arthroplasty. Morphometric data on GC among the North Indian population is scarce. Hence, the aim of this study was to provide morphological and morphometric data on GC among the North Indian population. Methods This study was conducted in the department of anatomy of two medical colleges using undamaged dry scapulae. The shapes of GC and supero-inferior (SI) and maximum anteroposterior diameters above and below the notch were recorded. Statistical analysis and Student's t-test were carried out to identify statistically significant differences in diameters of the two sides of GC. Results The most common and least common shapes of GC were pear and inverted comma shapes respectively. The mean SI glenoid diameter was 33.6 ± 3.2 mm. The mean of H1 and H2 diameter was 23.6 ± 3.1 and 15.3 ± 2.1 mm respectively. The mean GC indices on the right and left sides were 72.16 and 68.14 respectively. In all of the above measurements, bilateral differences were not statistically significant (p-values of ˃0.05). Conclusions The morphometric data on GC may be used to design prostheses for shoulder arthroplasty among the North Indian population. The information is also useful in detecting various pathological conditions of the shoulder like rotator cuff disease, osteochondral defects, and Bankart lesions.