Anatomy study note · Lower limb

Hip joint

A synovial ball-and-socket joint between the femoral head and the acetabulum. Its strength comes from the deep socket and strong ligaments.

Key points

• Ball-and-socket; labrum + transverse acetabular ligament.
• Iliofemoral (Y) ligament: strongest; prevents hyperextension.
• Head blood: medial circumflex femoral (retinacular).
• Posterior dislocation → sciatic nerve.
• Hip pain referred to the knee (obturator nerve).
• Congenital dislocation: hip most often.
• Joint: from mesenchyme between bone ends.
• Synovial membrane: type A (phagocytic) + type B (secretory) cells.
• Joint surfaces: hyaline cartilage, no perichondrium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Relations · Features · Action · Blood supply · Nerve supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 1387–1396
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF p. 144
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 117–120, 131

More from the lower limb

• Inguinal lymph nodes
• Interossei of the foot
• Joints of the forefoot and toes
• Knee joint
• Menisci of the knee
• Metatarsal bones
• Patella
• Pectineus
• Phalanges of the foot
• Plantar aponeurosis
• Plantar arteries
• Plantar nerves

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