A study of the collodiaphyseal angle of the femur in the North-Eastern Sub-Region of Nigeria.

The neck-shaft (collodiaphyseal) angle of 320 femora (200 males and 120 females) from indigenes of North-East sub-region of Nigeria were measured. The average collo-diaphyseal angle in males (136.70 degrees +/- 3.905) was greater than in females (126.65 degrees +/- 3.397) with a highly significant statistical difference between both sexes (P < 0.001). Regional variation has also been shown to exist in the neck-shaft angles. Knowledge of the neck-shaft angle in this region would therefore be useful to the surgeon during internal fixation of fractured neck of the femur and also in determining the sex of individual from skeletal remains for medico-legal reasons.