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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2024; 57(04): 294-305
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1788810
Original Article

Normative Data of Ulnar Length in Pediatric Indian Population

M.R. Thatte
1   Department of Plastic Surgery, Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Pawan Agarwal 
2   Department of Plastic Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Anil Bhat
3   Department of Hand Surgery, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
,
P. Umar Farooq Baba
4   Department of Plastic Surgery, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Bipin Ghanghurde 
5   Department of Plastic Surgery, Wadia Children's Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Mithun Pai 
2   Department of Plastic Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Harsh R. Shah
1   Department of Plastic Surgery, Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Onkar Kulkarni 
5   Department of Plastic Surgery, Wadia Children's Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Anand Dugad 
5   Department of Plastic Surgery, Wadia Children's Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Mansi Saraf
6   Department of Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Rajesh B.
6   Department of Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Raheeb Ahmad Shah
4   Department of Plastic Surgery, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
,
Jagmoah Singh Dhakar
7   Department of Community Medicine, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
,
Dhananjaya Sharma
6   Department of Surgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Objective The aim of this study is to create clinical normative data for ulnar length in the pediatric population and to demonstrate the usefulness of such data.

Materials and Methods A nationally representative sample of healthy children aged 1 day to 18 years from five centers across India was collected. The percutaneous length of the ulna was measured by using a certified calibrated measuring tape across all centers. Other variables such as geographical domicile, dominance of the hand, age, body mass index (BMI), and sex of the child were also recorded.

Results In total, 1,300 children (883 males and 417 females) with age ranging from 1 day to 18 years were included in the study. Gradual lengthening of the ulna was seen in both male and female children with increasing age without a significant difference; however, at 8, 9, and 14 years, there was significant lengthening of the ulna in males compared with females although the difference was statistically insignificant at 17 years. Apropos BMI at 16 years of age, a longer ulna was observed in obese children. Later on, at 18 years, the difference in ulnar length was insignificant. South Indian children had a significantly longer ulna up to the age of 11 years, but after the age of 11 years there was no difference in ulnar length in all zones. The length of the ulna was not affected by hand dominance. There was good inter-observer agreement and reliability between different centres. Age, zone, and gender, had statistically significant effect on the length of ulna but BMI and hand dominance was not significant.

Conclusion This multicentric study provides normative data on the percutaneous length of the ulna in the Indian pediatric population. Gradual lengthening of the ulna was seen in all children with increasing age. The length of the ulna was significantly more in male, obese, and in South Indian children. However, except for age, other factors become insignificant at maturity.

Keywords

normative data - ulnar length - pediatric - Indian population

Authors' Contributions

M.R.T. contributed to conceptualization, data collection, data analysis, and manuscript writing and editing. P.A. and A.B. contributed to data collection, data analysis, and manuscript writing and editing. P.U.F.B., B.G., M.P., H.R.S., O.K., and A.D. contributed to data collection, data analysis, and manuscript writing. M.S., R.B., and R.A.S contributed to data collection and data analysis. J.S.D. contributed to data analysis. D.S. contributed to manuscript writing and editing.


Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the institutional review board. All centers involved in study obtained institutional ethics committee clearance.




Publication History

Article published online:
05 August 2024

© 2024. Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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