Download FEMUR

FEMUR
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session, the students should be able to:
 Know different parts of the femur
 Determine the side of the bone
 Identify the surfaces and borders of the bone
GENERAL:
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Femur is the longest and largest bone in the body.
There is a forward convexity of the shaft and posterior
concavity which is buttressed by a strong ridge, the linea
aspera in its middle third.
The head rises off the table because the neck has an angle
of torsion of 30o with the shaft
There is a slope of the neck of the femur which is in line with
the forward and upward propulsive thrust of normal
progression (walking, leaping, etc.)
Femoral condyles rest horizontally on the plateau of the tibia
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In the erect posture it is not vertical but inclined downward
and medialward
The inlclination if the shaft depends on the length of the
femur and the width of the pelvis. Wider pelvis in female and
shorter height in female and children produces greater
inclination than in the males with greater height
PARTS OF FEMUR:
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Femur is divisible into a body and two
extremities.
Upper end has a head, neck, greater and
lesser trochanters.
Body is known as the shaft with linea
aspera at its middle third
Lower end has lateral and medial
condyles.
It forms part of the hip joint (at the
acetabulum) and part of the knee joint.
There are four eminences, or
protuberances: the head, the greater
trochanter, the lesser trochanter, and the
lower extremity.
The intercondylar fossa is present between the condyles at the distal
end of the femur.
UPPER END OF THE FEMUR:
The upper extremity has a head, a neck, a greater and a lesser
trochanter.
HEAD OF THE FEMUR:
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The head of the femur capped with hyaline cartilage, is more than half a
sphere.
It is directed upward, medially, and a little
forward
Its medial convexity has a pit, the fovea
capitis femoris
Anteriorly the articular cartilage extends to the
neck.
The synovial membrane of the hip joint, lines
the capsule and covers the retinacular fibres
on the neck
It is attached to the articular margin of the
head.
NECK OF THE FEMUR:
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The neck of the femur is an upward
extension of the shaft.
The angle of the neck, of about 125° is
strengthened internally by the calcar
femorale, a flange of compact bone
projecting like a spur into the cancellous
bone of the neck and adjoining shaft from the
concavity of their junction, well in front of the
lesser trochanter.
It has an anterior and posterior surface and
superior and inferior borders.
The neck joins the shaft at the greater trochanter above and the lesser
trochanter below.
The neck joins the greater trochanter in front along a rough
ridge, the intertrochanteric line.
The capsule of the hip joint is attached to the line; the
anterior surface of the neck with its adherent retinacular
fibres is wholly intracapsular
The back of the neck joins the greater trochanter at a
prominent rounded ridge, the intertrochanteric crest.
Here the capsule of the hip joint is attached to the neck
only halfway to the crest
TROCHANTERS:
These are epiphysis that ossify separately from the shaft and their purpose is for
muscle attachment
THE GREATER TROCHANTER:
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The Greater Trochanter is a large, irregular,
quadrilateral eminence, situated at the junction of the
neck with the upper part of the body.
It is directed a little lateralward and backward.
In the adult it is about 1 cm. lower than the head.
It has two surfaces and four borders.
Surfaces Of The Greater Trochanter:
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The lateral surface, quadrilateral in form, is broad,
rough, convex, and marked by a diagonal impression,
which extends from the postero-superior to the
antero-inferior angle.
Above the impression is a triangular surface, which
might be smooth or rough
Below and behind the diagonal impression is a
smooth, triangular surface
The medial surface has at its base a deep
depressionc, the trochanteric fossa (digital fossa)
Borders Of The Greater Trochanter
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The superior border is free; it is thick and
irregular ad marked near the center.
The inferior border corresponds to the line of
junction of the base of the trochanter with the
lateral surface of the body; it is marked by a
rough, prominent, slightly curved ridge
The anterior border is prominent and
somewhat irregular.
The posterior border is very prominent and
appears as a free, rounded edge, which
bounds the back part of the trochanteric fossa.
LESSER TROCHANTER:
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A conical eminence
It projects from the lower and back
part of the base of the neck.
The summit of the trochanter is rough.
From its apex three borders extend.
Borders Of The Lesser Trochanter:
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A medial border continuous with the
lower border of the neck
 A lateral border with the
intertrochanteric crest
 The inferior border is continuous with
the middle division of the linea aspera.
 A prominence, the tubercle of the
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femur, occurs at the junction of the upper part of the neck with the greater
trochanter
Running obliquely downward and
medialward from the tubercle is
the intertrochanteric line (spiral line of the
femur)
Intertrochanteric line winds around the
medial side of the body of the bone, and
ends about 5 cm. below the lesser
trochanter in the linea aspera.
Its upper half is rough, and lower half is
less prominent
Running obliquely downward and
medialward from the summit of the greater
trochanter on the posterior surface of the
neck is a prominent ridge,
the intertrochanteric crest.
A slight ridge sometimes commences about the middle of the
intertrochanteric crest, and reaches vertically downward along the back of
bone for about 5 cm called the linea quadrata.
THE BODY OR SHAFT (CORPUS FEMORIS):
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The body, almost cylindrical in form
It is slightly arched, convex in front, and concave behind.
At the back is strengthened by a
prominent longitudinal ridge, the linea
aspera.
The body has three borders,
separating three surfaces. The linea
aspera, is posterior, others are
medial, and lateral.
Borders Of The Shaft:
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The linea aspera is a prominent
longitudinal ridge or crest, on the
middle third of the bone, presenting a
medial and a lateral lip, and a narrow
rough, intermediate line.
The lateral border extends from the
antero-inferior angle of the greater
trochanter to the anterior extremity of
the lateral condyle
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The medial border extends from the intertrochanteric line, at a point
opposite the lesser trochanter, to the anterior extremity of the medial
condyle.
Above, the linea aspera is prolonged by
three ridges.
The lateral ridge is very rough, and runs
almost vertically upward to the base of the
greater trochanter as the gluteal
tuberosity.
The intermediate ridge or pectineal
line is continued to the base of the lesser
trochanter
The medial ridge is lost in the
intertrochanteric line
Below, the linea aspera is prolonged into
two ridges, enclosing between them a
triangular area, the popliteal
surface, upon which the popliteal artery
rests.
the lateral ridge is the more prominent,
and descends to the summit of the lateral
condyle.
The medial is less marked, where it is crossed by the femoral artery.
It ends below at the summit of the medial condyle, in a small tubercle,
the adductor tubercle.
The linea aspera is perforated a little below its center by the nutrient
canal, which is directed obliquely upward.
Surfaces Of The Shaft:
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The anterior surface includes that portion of the shaft which is situated
between the lateral and medial borders.
The lateral surface includes the portion between the lateral border and
the linea aspera;
It is continuous above with the corresponding surface of the greater
trochanter, below with that of the lateral condyle:
The medial surface includes the portion between the medial border and
the linea aspera
It is continuous above with the lower border of the neck, below with the
medial side of the medial condyle
THE LOWER EXTREMITY (DISTAL END):
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The lower extremity is larger and cuboid.
It consists of two oblong
eminences known as
the condyles, lateral and medial.
In front are separated from one
another by a smooth shallow
articular depression called
the patellar surface
Behind, they form a deep notch,
the intercondyloid fossa.
The lateral condyle is the more
prominent
The medial condyle is the longer
and projected to a lower than the
lateral condyle in perpendicular
position.
The intercondyloid fossa is limited
above by a ridge, the
intercondyloid line, and below by
the central part of the posterior
margin of the patellar surface.
Each condyle is surmounted by an
elevation, the epicondyle.
The medial epicondyle is a large
convex eminence with adductor
tubercle at its upper part.
The lateral epicondyle is smaller and less prominent with a depression
below and oblique and horizontal groove arising from it
Articular Surface:
 The articular surface of the lower end of the
femur occupies the anterior, inferior, and
posterior surfaces of the condyles.
 Its front part is named the patellar surface and
articulates with the patella;
 It presents a median groove which extends
downward to the intercondyloid fossa and two
convexities.
 The lower and posterior parts of the articular
surface constitute the tibial surfaces for
articulation with the corresponding condyles of
the tibia and menisci.
 The lateral groove runs laterally and forward
from the front part of the intercondyloid fossa,
and expands to form a triangular depression.
 When the knee-joint is fully extended, the triangular depression rests
upon the anterior portion of the lateral meniscus,
and the medial part of the groove comes into
contact with the medial margin of the lateral
articular surface of the tibia
 The medial groove is exists only on the medial
part of the condyle.
 It receives the anterior edge of the medial
meniscus when the knee-joint is extended.
 There is a semilunar area close to the anterior
part of the intercondyloid fossa which articulates
with the medial vertical facet of the patella in
forced flexion of the knee-joint.
 The tibial surfaces of the condyles are
convex from side to side and from before
backward.
LEARNING RESOURCES:
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Gray’s Anatomy by Henry Gray
Last’s Anatomy by R.J.Last
Netter’s Atlas
http://www.medscape.com
http://www.emedicine.com
http://www.pediatric-orthopedics.com
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov