Femur

The femur is the longest tubular bone in the human body. It has a body and two ends. At the upper (proximal) end is the head of the femur (caput femoris) for articulation with the pelvic bone. The articular surface of the head is directed medially and upward. In the middle of it is the fossa of the head of the femur (fovea capitis ossis femoris) - the attachment site of the ligament of the same name. The neck of the femur (collum femoris) connects the head with the body and forms an angle of about 130° with it. At the border of the neck and body there are two powerful bony tubercles - trochanters. The greater trochanter (trochanter major) is located above and laterally. On its medial surface, facing the neck, is the trochanteric fossa (fossa trochanterica). The lesser trochanter (trochanter minor) is located medially and behind. In front, both trochanters are connected by the intertrochanteric line (linea intertrochanterica), and behind - by the intertrochanteric crest (crista intertrochanterica).

The body of the femur (corpus femoris) is curved with a convexity towards the front and, as it were, twisted around the longitudinal axis. On the posterior surface of the body there is a rough line (linea aspera), which is divided into the medial and lateral lips (labium mediale et labium laterale). In the middle of the femur the lips are closely adjacent to each other, upward and downward they diverge; upward they are directed towards the greater and lesser trochanters of the femur. The lateral lip widens and thickens, forming the gluteal tuberosity (tuberositas glutea) - the attachment site of the gluteus maximus muscle. Sometimes the gluteal tuberosity thickens and forms the third trochanter (trochanter tertius). The medial lip continues into the pectineal line (linea pectinea). At the lower end of the femur, both lips gradually move away from each other, limiting the triangular popliteal surface (facies poplitea).

The lower (distal) end of the femur is widened and forms two large rounded condyles of different sizes. The medial condyle (condylus medialis) is larger than the lateral one (condylus lateralis). Both condyles are separated from each other at the back by a deep intercondylar fossa (fossa intercondylaris). Above the medial condyle is the medial epicondyle (epicondylus medialis), on the lateral side is the smaller lateral epicondyle (epicondylus lateralis). In front, the articular surfaces of the condyles pass into each other, forming a concave patellar surface (facies patellaris), to which the patella adjoins with its back side.

The kneecap (patella) is a large sesamoid bone embedded in the tendon of the quadriceps femoris muscle. There is a base of the kneecap (basis patellae), directed upward, and a apex of the kneecap (apex patellae), directed downward. The posterior articular surface (facies articularis) of the kneecap articulates with the patellar surface of the femur, and the anterior surface (facies anterior) is easily palpated through the skin.

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