What Is the Femur?

The femur (femur), also known as the thigh, sacrum, and condyle, is the longest tubular bone in the human body. The upper end is composed of the femoral head and the acetabulum to form the hip joint, and the lower end and the sacrum and the upper end of the tibia form the knee joint to support the body weight.

The femur (femur), also known as the thigh, sacrum, and condyle, is the longest tubular bone in the human body. The upper end is composed of the femoral head and the acetabulum to form the hip joint, and the lower end and the sacrum and the upper end of the tibia form the knee joint to support the body weight.

Chinese name

Femur

Foreign name

femur

Pinyin

g g

Commonly known

Femur

Category

The largest long tubular bone in the human body

Function

Load-bearing

Femur anatomy

Split the two ends. The proximal end has a round femoral head, which is 2/3 of the sphere, pointing inward and forward, and forming a hip joint with the acetabulum. There is a small nest in the center of the femoral head called the femoral head. The narrow part below the femoral head is the femoral neck. The angle between the femoral neck and the femoral body is 125 °, and the female's pelvis is wide, and this angle is small. There are two large protrusions on the far side of the femoral neck: the larger trochanter and the smaller trochanter (greater and lesser trochanter) are the muscle attachment sites. The large rotor is convex upwards and outwards, and has a concave trochanteric fossa on its inner side. The small rotor is under, inside and rear of the large rotor. The obvious bulge connecting the two rotors at the rear is the intertrochanteric crest. There is an intertrochanteric line connecting them at the front.

The femoral body is approximately cylindrical and slightly curved forward, the middle 1/3 cross section is round, and the cross sections at the proximal and distal ends are flat at the back. On the back of the femoral body there is a longitudinal line called as linea aspe-ra. The thick line divides the inner lip and the outer lip. The lateral lip extends upward, and the part reaching the bottom of the greater trochanter is rough called glutealtuberosity.

The distal end of the femur swells to the left and right and bows backward to form the medial and lateral condyle. There is a deep fossa called intercondyle fossa between the two posterior femorals. In front of them there is a shallow concave called the plantar surface, which meets the metatarsal bone. Each ridge has a lateral protrusion called the lateral and medial epicondyle.

The angle between the femoral neck and the femoral body directly affects the running speed, which is one of the issues that should be paid attention to in the selection of athletes.

Femur related diseases and treatment

Femoral fractures: Femoral fractures are prone to occur at the proximal end and are less common at the distal end. Fractures at the proximal end of the femur vary by age: greenstick fractures can occur in children; epiphyseal displacement can occur in adolescents; hip dislocations can occur in adults; and femoral head fractures can occur in older people.

Fracture healing requires a good mechanical environment, that is, the internal fixation method of fractures must meet the principle of elastic fixation: (1) stable fixation, (2) non-functional replacement, and (3) physiological stress at the stump.

Countermeasures: 1. Repairing bone defects, especially those on the pressure side: In the internal fixation of femoral fractures, in addition to the anatomical reduction of the fracture, it is also required to repair the bone defect and restore the integrity of the bone, especially the bone defect on the pressure side. Even small bone defects can lead to nonunion.

2. For atrophic and bone defect-type nonunion, due to the lack of blood supply at the stump, bone grafting must be performed, and the bone fragments should be given a reasonable fixation.

3. Weight-bearing should be avoided early after reduction and internal fixation of femoral fractures. The function of affected limbs should follow the principles of early muscle contraction and joint activity. In the mid-term, walking can be practiced with crutches, but weight-bearing is still not possible. Only when the continuous epiphysis appears on the X-ray film, you can gradually carry weight-bearing walking. Once the pain of the fracture site appears, you should return to the clinic immediately. If interlocking intramedullary nails are used to treat femoral fractures, when the fracture is delayed in healing, the interlocking nail at the end of the static fixation away from the fracture can be removed and converted into a dynamic fixation to remove the stress shielding effect and produce physiology to the fracture end. Stress promotes fracture healing.