A 72-year-old woman sustains a displaced intracapsular fracture of the neck of the femur. The orthopaedic team warns of a high risk of avascular necrosis of the femoral head because the main arterial supply has been disrupted. Which vessel provides the principal blood supply to the femoral head in adults?

• A Inferior gluteal artery
• B Artery of the ligamentum teres
• C Medial circumflex femoral artery ✓
• D First perforating artery

Explanation

In adults the femoral head is supplied mainly by the medial circumflex femoral artery, whose retinacular branches run along the posterosuperior aspect of the femoral neck beneath the capsular reflection. An intracapsular fracture tears these retinaculae and cuts off this supply, causing avascular necrosis. The artery of the ligamentum teres, a branch of the obturator artery, is significant in childhood but becomes functionally inadequate in adults, which is why it is not the principal source.

Reference: Gray's Anatomy for Students, 4th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.