FEMUR
(osteology)
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
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GENERAL
Femur is the longest and largest bone in the body.
forward convexity of the shaft and posterior concavity
Has the linea aspera in its middle third.
An angle of torsion of 30 with the shaft
Femoral condyles rest horizontally on the plateau of the tibia .
In the erect posture it is not vertical but inclined downward and
medially
The inlclination if the shaft depends on the length of the femur and
the width of the pelvis.
PARTS
FEMUR
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OF
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body and two extremities.
Upper end has
 Head
 Neck
 Lesser trochanters
 Greater trochanters.
Body is known as the shaft
Lower end has lateral and medial condyles.
It forms part of the hip joint and knee joint.
There are four eminences:
 Head
 Greater trochanter
 Lesser trochanter
 Lower extremity.
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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Capped with hyaline cartilage
More than half a sphere.
Directed upward, medially, and a little forward
Medial convexity has 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 which are attached to the
articular margin of the head.
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Neck of the femur
An upward extension of the shaft.
The angle of the neck is strengthened internally by the calcar femorale
Bounded above by the greater trochanter and below by the lesser trochanter
It has
 anterior and posterior surface
 superior and inferior borders.
The anterior surface of the neck with its adherent retinacular fibres is wholly
intracapsular
perforated by numerous vascular foramina
Neck of the femur
 Posterior surface is smooth
The back of the neck joins the greater
trochanter at a prominent rounded ridge, the
intertrochanteric crest
 Capsule is attached only halfway to the crest
 Superior border is short and thick
 Ends laterally at the greater trochanter
 its surface is perforated by large foramina
 Inferior border, long and narrow
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curves a little backward, to end at the lesser trochanter.
TROCHANTERS
 These are epiphysis that ossify separately from the
shaft and their purpose is for muscle attachment
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GREATER TROCHANTER
A large, irregular, quadrilateral eminence, situated
at the junction of the neck with the upper part of
the shaft
Directed a little laterally and backward
About 1 cm. lower than the head in the adult
It has two surfaces and four borders.
Surfaces Of The Greater Trochanter
 Lateral surface, quadrilateral in form, broad, rough, convex, and marked by a
diagonal impression
 Above and below the impression are triangular
surfaces, for muscles and bursae attachment
 The medial surface has at its base a deep
depression, the trochanteric fossa (digital fossa)
Borders Of The Greater Trochanter
 Superior border is free; it is thick and irregular and
marked near the center
 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
 Anterior border is prominent and irregular
 Posterior border is very prominent and appears as
a free, rounded edge, which bounds the back part of
the trochanteric fossa.
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LESSER TROCHANTER
A conical eminence
Projects from the lower and back part of the base of
the neck.
Summit is rough.
From its apex three borders extend
Borders Of The Lesser Trochanter
Medial border continuous with the lower border of the neck
Lateral border with the intertrochanteric crest
The inferior border with the middle division of the linea aspera.
Running obliquely downward and medially from the tubercle is
the intertrochanteric line (spiral line of the femur)
 Running obliquely downward and medially from the summit of the greater
trochanter on the posterior surface of the neck is the intertrochanteric crest
 A slight ridge sometimes commences about the middle of the intertrochanteric
crest, called the linea quadrata.
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THE BODY OR SHAFT (CORPUS FEMORIS)
The body, almost cylindrical in form
It is slightly arched, convex in front, and concave behind.
The body has three borders, separating three surfaces.
The linea aspera, is posterior, others are medial, and lateral.
Borders Of The Shaft
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 linea aspera is perforated by the nutrient canal, which is directed obliquely
upward.
Above, the linea aspera is prolonged by three ridges.
The lateral ridge joins, at base of the greater trochanter, the gluteal tuberosity.
Intermediate ridge or pectineal line is continued to the base of the lesser
trochanter
The medial ridge is lost in the intertrochanteric line
The lateral border extends from the antero-inferior angle of the greater
trochanter to the anterior extremity of the lateral condyle
The medial border extends from the intertrochanteric line to the anterior
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extremity of the medial condyle
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 descends to the summit of the lateral condyle.
The medial ridge 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.
Surfaces Of The Shaft
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)
 It consists of two oblong eminences known as the condyles, lateral and medial
 An articular depression called the patellar surface separate them infront
 Behind, they form a deep notch, the intercondyloid fossa.
 The lateral condyle is the more prominent
 The medial condyle is the longer and projected lower than the lateral condyle in
perpendicular position.
 The intercondyloid fossa is limited above by a ridge, the intercondyloid line, and
below by 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 have and oblique and a horizontal groove arising from
it
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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
Blood supply of femur
 The primary blood supply to the head of the femur
arises from the circumflex arteries at the base of the
femur neck.
LEARNING RESOURCES
 Gray’s Anatomy by Henry Gray
 Last’s Anatomy by R.J.Last
 Netter’s Atlas
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