Determination of sex from greater sciatic notch of hip bone: A cross sectional study at tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra

Abstract               Background: Identification of sex of an unknown individual from the skeletal remains is the first and the most important step encountered by the forensic experts and archeologists. The hip bone is considered as an ideal bone for sex determination as it provides the highest accuracy levels. Objectives: The present study is done to implicate the importance of greater sciatic notch in sexing skeletal remains from Maharashtra region of India by morphometric study. Material and Methods: One hundred and twenty adult hip bones of known sex including 70 male and 50 female hip bones were numbered and used for the study. All these were obtained from skeletal collection of Department of Anatomy across all medical colleges in Maharashtra. Care was taken to avoid damaged and pathologically deformed bones that could lead to error in measurement. Results: There was statistically significant difference in the Width, Depth, Anterior Segment Posterior Segment, Three Indices, Posterior Angle, Total Angle of male and female greater sciatic notch, whereas Anterior angle of greater sciatic notch is statistically insignificant. Conclusions: Present study not only gives understanding of the bisexual dimorphism but also is much applicable in medico legal aspect and archeology.

Key Word: Greater sciatic notch, Sexing of hip bone.