Synonyms
Femoral neck, hip joint, knee joint, femoral condyle, trochlea, caput femoris, femoral head, femoral head
Anatomy
The thigh bone (femur) is the largest bone in the human body. Like the shinbone and fibula, it is a tubular bone. This means it consists of a hard mantle (compacta) and a soft cavity filled with blood cells (cancellous bone).
With its femoral head (femoral head = caput femoris) it forms the hip joint with the acetabulum of the pelvis. This is a so-called ball joint. The femoral head is critically supplied with blood.
The blood flow is a one-way street from the femoral neck back to the femoral head. Circulatory disorders in this area are therefore more frequent. The femoral head is directly connected to the femoral neck.
In an adult person, the femoral neck stands at approx. 127° to the femoral shaft (femoral shaft). At the tip of the femoral shaft, the trochanter major (large trochanter) is located on the outside and the trochanter minor (small trochanter) on the inside.
Both are attachment points (apophyses) for large muscle groups (hip flexor and abductor). The femur ends towards the knee joint with its two femoral rolls (medial and lateral femoral condyles). These two femoral rolls form the knee joint with the tibia.
- Kneecap (patella)
- Fibula (fibula)
- Thigh bone (femur)
- Shinbone (Tibia)
Function
The head of the femur forms the hip joint with the socket of the pelvis. Together with the condyles of the femur it forms the knee joint with the shin. As the only bone of the thigh, it transmits the entire force from the body (pelvis) to the lower leg (tibia/shinbone).
The most common disease of the femur is arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis). This is followed by arthrosis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis). With increasing age and decreasing bone quality, the fracture of the femoral neck (femoral neck fracture) increases.
This results in a fracture between the neck of the femur and the femoral head. In most cases, a fracture of the femoral neck must be treated surgically. A femoral shaft fracture is rare and is more likely to occur when a great deal of force is applied, such as in traffic accidents or in the case of an artificial knee joint or artificial hip joint. Fractures above the joint rollers, a so-called supracondylar femur fracture, also occurs at an advanced age and almost always requires surgical treatment.
- Basin shovel
- Femoral head
- Acetabular cup
- Femoral neck
- Greater trochanter
- Trochanter minor