Femur
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Femur (femur) - the longest tubular bone in the human body. It has a body and two ends. On the upper (proximal) end is the head of the femur (caput femoris) for connection to the pelvic bone. The articular surface of the head is directed medially and upwards. In its middle is the fossa of the head of the femur (fovea capitis ossis femoris) - the place of attachment of the same ligament. The neck of the femur (collum femoris) connects the head to the body and forms an angle of about 130 ° with it. On the border of the neck and body there are two powerful bone tubercles - trochanter. The large trochanter major is located at the top and lateral. On its medial surface, facing the cervix, is the fossa trochanterica (fossa trochanterica). The small trochanter minor is located medially and posteriorly. In front, both skewers connect the intertrochanteric line (linea intertrochanterica), and the rear interstitial crest (crista intertrochanterica).
The body of the femur (corpus femoris) is bent by the convexity anteriorly and as it were twisted around the longitudinal axis. On the back surface of the body there is a rough linea (linea aspera), which is divided into the medial and lateral lips (labium mediale et labium laterale). In the middle of the thigh bone the lips closely adjoin each other, up and down they diverge; upward they are directed to the large and small trochanter of the femur. The lateral lip expands and thickens, forming a gluteal tuberositas (tuberositas glutea) - the place of attachment of the gluteus maximus. Sometimes the gluteal tuberosity thickens and forms a third trochanter (trochanter tertius). The medial lip continues into the comb line (linea pectinea). At the lower end of the femur, both lips gradually move away from each other, limiting the triangular shape of the popliteal surface (facies poplitea).
The lower (distal) end of the femur is enlarged and forms two large, rounded condyles of different size. The medial condyle (condylus medialis) is greater than the lateral (condylus lateralis). Both condyle from the back side separates from each other deep intercondylar and I fossa (fossa intercondylaris). Above the medial condyle is the medial epicondylus (epicondylus medialis), on the lateral side - of a smaller lateral epicondylitis (epicondylus lateralis). From the front, the articular surfaces of the condyles move into each other, forming a concave patellar surface (facies patellaris), to which the patella lies with its posterior side.
The patella (patella) is a large sesamoid bone encased in the tendon of the quadriceps femoris muscle. The base of the patellae (base patellae) pointed upward and the apex patellae turned downward are selected. The posterior articular surface (facies articularis) of the patella articulates with the patellar femur surface, the front surface (facies anterior) is easily probed through the skin.
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