Olecranon foramen

Last revised by Mostafa Elfeky on 21 Sep 2020

An olecranon foramen, also known as septal aperture or supratrochlear foramen, is a common normal anatomical variant of the distal humerus

Epidemiology

There is a wide variation of incidence, occurring between 5% to 50% of the population depending on ethnicity, being more common in individuals of African descent than Caucasians, and is most often bilateral 1,2.  

Gross anatomy

The olecranon foramen is an aperture formed by the failure of ossification of the septum that separates the coronoid and olecranon fossae.

Related pathology

  • presence may put patients at increased risk of distal humerus fractures 3

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