THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE PROXIMAL END OF THE FEMUR

Abstract

Many analyses of the geometric arrangement of trabeculae in the proximal end of the femur have accepted and perpetuated the theories of Ward (1838), Culmann (1866) and Meyer (1867), and have contributed to the belief that the structure of the femoral neck embodies mechanical principles which are foreign to bony formations elsewhere. This isolated departure from the normal pattern of skeletal behaviour is considered to be most unlikely, and an attempt has been made to show that the structure of the femoral head and neck departs but little from the normal anatomy of the long bone. From a developmental point of view, the proximal end of the human femur is believed, in its simplest interpretation, to represent an upward continuation of the original shaft which has undergone rotation and expansion. The cancellous arrangements of the internal weight-bearing system are likewise believed to represent the expanded and rotated lamellae of the neck as they are presented radiologically or on coronal section. The forces acting upon the proximal end of the femur are considered to be mainly compressive in nature, and both crane and street-lamp bracket theories have therefore been rejected. The spiral conformity of the proximal end of the femur has been related to the spiral disposition of the soft-tissue structures that surround the hip, and in the interpretation of hip joint mechanics the principle of the screw has been preferred to the principle ofthe lever.