BoneLong bone
Femur
Latin: Femur sinistrum
Location: Thigh
Paired structure: one on the left and one on the right side of the body.
View the femur in 3DFunction
The longest, heaviest and strongest bone in the body — a tubular pillar engineered to carry up to 30 times body weight in impact. Its angled neck swings the shaft under the pelvis for a striding gait, and its condyles roll the knee.
Landmarks
- Head with fovea
- Neck
- Greater and lesser trochanters
- Intertrochanteric line and crest
- Linea aspera
- Gluteal tuberosity
- Medial and lateral condyles
- Intercondylar notch
- Adductor tubercle
Articulations (joints)
- Hip bone (ball-and-socket hip joint)
- Patella
- Tibia (knee joint)
Clinical relevance
Femoral neck fractures in the elderly risk avascular necrosis of the head; shaft fractures can bleed 1–1.5 L into the thigh — a hidden cause of shock.
Related conditions
Educational anatomy reference, not medical advice. About this content.