Abstract

BACKGROUND: Age is regarded as an important factor in various medical examination related to criminal procedures such as assault, sexual offence, kidnapping and in civil matters like succession of property, marriage, employment and so on. Fusion of epiphyses of bones is considered as one of the methods for age estimation. AIMS: To study the stages of epiphyseal union of radius and ulna at the wrist joint in males and females. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present radiological study was carried out in a tertiary health care centre in coastal Odisha over a period of two years. The epiphyseal union at the wrist joint among 124 subjects (70 males and 54 females) among the adolescent population between 13 to 19 years have been studied to assess the skeletal maturity. RESULTS: Our study concluded that complete epiphyseal union of lower end of radius in case of males occurs at 18-19 yrs. The complete epiphyseal union of lower end of radius in case of females occurs at 17-18 yrs. The complete epiphyseal union of lower end of ulna in both the sexes occurs at 18-19 yrs. The epiphyseal union around the wrist joint occurs earlier in females than males among the adolescents. CONCLUSION: It is recommended to have separate age chart for different geographic regions as many factors like nutrition, genetic, climatic conditions etc. may affect the process of epiphyseal union.

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