Patient/caregiver was instructed upon anatomy of hip joint as follows:
- The hip joint is formed by the thigh bone (femur) and the hip bone (pelvis). The hip joint is a ball and socket joint, in which the ball of the joint is formed by the round head of femur. The socket is a hollow on the side of the pelvis called acetabulum. The head of femur sits in the hollow acetabulum forming the hip joint.
- The ball and socket arrangement of hip joint offers stability and good range of motion to the hip joint.
- The round femoral head is attached to the rest of the femur bone through a piece of connecting bone called neck of femur.
- The hip joint is enclosed in or surrounded by a joint capsule, which is known as a synovium. This joint capsule is a watertight sac surrounding the hip, formed by the strong ligaments of the hip joint.
- The synovium has fluid called synovial fluid, which lubricates the joint and helps with the smooth rolling of bones in the joint on one another during movement.
- The head of femur is covered by articular cartilage and has a soft, smooth, and rubbery consistency. The hollow of the acetabulum is also lined by the same soft, smooth articular cartilage.
- The smooth and soft articular cartilage lining the acetabulum and covering the head of femur helps with easy sliding of the bones against each other and allows an easy range of motion. Also, the articular cartilage helps as a shock absorber and helps to prevent the bones from rubbing against each other resulting in injury.
- Various connective tissue bands, such as, ligaments and tendons, add more stability and reinforce the hip joint in the body.
- In the lower limb, arteries & veins providing blood supply & venous drainage and nerves providing nerve supply to the lower leg travel in close relation to the hip joint. These structures can be at risk for injury, secondary to injury to the hip joint, thus compromising the blood and nerve supply to the lower leg.
