Atlas of Human Anatomy by Netter

FACTS & HINTS

HIGH-YIELD FACTS

Anatomic Points
Hip Joint

The hip joint is a stable ball and socket joint that carries the whole body weight. Its stability results from the snug fit of the large femoral head and
deep acetabulum, which is supported on all sides by powerful intrinsic ligaments and muscles. There is a tendency for the trunk to tilt backwards at
the hip joints, because the line of gravity passes posteriorly; the powerful iliofemoral ligament resists this.

Clinical Points

Femoral Hernia

Occur when part of an abdominal viscus or fat protrudes into the femoral canal through its opening, the femoral ring

More common in women because of wider femoral ring

Present as a mass (often tender) inferolateral to the pubic tubercle

May enlarge by passing through the saphenous opening

Are at a high risk of strangulation because of hard margins of femoral ring

Surgical reduction and repair is usually necessary

Fractured Neck of Femur ("Broken hip")

Common in the elderly, particularly women with osteoporotic bone

Can occur as the result of high impact accident, such as head-on car collision

May damage branches of medial circumflex femoral artery supplying the femoral head

Results in bleeding into the hip joint and avascular necrosis of the head of the femur

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MNEMONICS

Memory Aids

Femoral Triangle Boundaries: So I May Always Love Sally

Superiorly-Inguinal ligament, Medially

Adductor longus, Laterally-Sartorius

Memory Aids

Contents entering the femoral triangle (lateral to medial) as they pass under the inguinal ligament): NAVEL

Nerve*

Artery

Vein

Empty space**

Lacunar ligament***

* Nerve = Femoral, but it does not descend with the femoral artery and vein in the femoral sheath. It travels on the surface of the iliopsoas muscle.

The femoral branch of the genitofemoral nerve travels beneath the inguinal ligament just lateral to the femoral artery, within the femoral sheath.

** Empty space = Femoral canal, because it is a potential space filled with compressible tissue.

*** The lacunar ligament is the hard medial margin of the femoral ring; it is an expansion of the inguinal ligament. Filling the gap between the

attachment of the inguinal ligament to the pubic tubercle and the pecten pubis, posteriorly.