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Anatomy

What structures are most commonly injured?



The hip joint is what is called a ball and socket joint. The upper end of the thigh bone (the femur) forms a ball (the femoral head) which fits into a socket (the acetabulum) in the pelvis. This type of joint allows a great range of motion of the hip joint.

Just below the femoral head is a narrow femoral neck which is offset from the rest of the shaft of the thigh bone by an angle of about 135 degrees. This angle allows for rotation of the leg so that you can toe in or toe out. This anatomy is necessary for the function of the hip joint but it means that there are mechanically weaker areas at the neck and at the junction between the shaft and the neck. These are the areas which are most commonly broken in a hip fracture.

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