The
hip bone,
innominate bone or
coxal bone is a large, flattened, irregularly shaped bone, constricted in the center and expanded above and below. It has one of the few ball and socket synovial joints in the body – the so called
hip joint.
It meets its fellow on the opposite side in the middle line in front, and together they form the sides and anterior wall of the
pelvic cavity.
Together with the
sacrum and
coccyx, it comprises the
pelvis
Components
It consists of three parts, the
ilium,
ischium, and
pubis, which are distinct from each other in the young subject, but are fused in the adult; the union of the three parts takes place in and around a large cup-shaped articular cavity, the
acetabulum, which is situated near the middle of the outer surface of the bone.
The ischium is the lowest and strongest portion of the bone; it proceeds downward from the acetabulum, expands into a large tuberosity, and then, curving forward, forms, with the pubis, a large aperture, the
obturator foramen.