CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE HIP JOINT. 



ANATOMY. DISLOCATION. 

 SYNOV1TIS. Varieties 



MORBUS COXAE. Reduction by Manipulation 



Symptoms. 



The hip joint is formed by the reception of the round- 

 ed head of the femur in a cavity the acetabulum which 

 is thickened at its upper part, since it is here that the strain 

 is received in supporting the weight of the body. The hip 

 joint is an enarthrodial, or ball and socket joint, and has 

 in connection with it the following ligaments, viz., the cap- 

 sular, transverse, ligamentum teres, and the cotyloid car- 

 tilage. The capsular ligament is attached, above, to the 

 margin of the acetabulum, a little beyond the cotyloid car- 

 tilage, and, where the rim is deficient below, to the trans- 

 verse ligament. Tb the femur, it is attached along the an- 

 terior intertrochanteric line, while behind, the attachment 

 is from one-half to two-thirds of an inch above the pos- 

 terior intertrochanteric line. Some of the deeper fibres 

 of this ligament spread, from their insertion in the bone, 

 upwards on the neck of the femur towards the head of the 

 bone and are termed "retinacula." The capsular liga- 

 ment is sufficiently loose that some portion of it is relaxed 

 in every position of the body. It is thinnest below and 

 anteriorly, but is thickened above and behind by means of 

 the following auxiliary bands, viz., the ilio-femoral or Y 

 ligament (Biglowe), the ischio-femoral, the pectineo- 

 femoral, the ilio-trochanteric band and the tendino- 

 trochanteric band. The ilio-femoral is very strong and is 

 triangular in shape, with the apex attached, above, to the 

 ilium immediately below the anterior inferior spine, and 



