A 78-year-old woman falls at home and sustains a displaced subcapital fracture of the femoral neck. The surgeon chooses hemiarthroplasty rather than internal fixation.
Damage to which vessel best explains this decision?
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Free practice question 2 of 20 · Lower limb
Lower limb anatomy: a free MRCS Part A question
An original single best answer question in the style of the MRCS Part A paper, with the answer and a referenced explanation. Pick an answer to reveal it, then rate how sure you were.
Keep revising lower limb
Topic guide
Lower limb: what the exam tests
Syllabus coverage, high-yield themes and the common traps.
Free article
The femoral triangle and femoral canal: boundaries, contents and femoral hernia
Femoral triangle for MRCS Part A: boundaries, roof and floor, contents in order, the femoral sheath and canal, femoral hernia and profunda branches.
Interactive 3D
Blood supply of the femoral head
The proximal femur seen from behind with the medial femoral circumflex artery winding round the back of the neck and its deep branch giving the retinacular vessels that run up the posterosuperior neck into the femoral head.
Interactive 3D
Proximal femur
The proximal femur: the femoral head, neck, greater and lesser trochanters and the upper shaft — the landmarks used to classify hip fractures and plan their fixation.
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