acetabular fossa

{{Short description|Depression within the hip joint cavity (acetabulum)}}

{{Infobox bone

| Name = Acetabular fossa

| Latin = fossa acetabuli

| Image = Gray235.png

| Caption = Lateral view of the right hip bone

| Image2 =

| Caption2 =

}}

The acetabular fossa is the non-articular depressed region at the centre of the floor of the acetabulum. It is surrounded by the articular lunate surface.{{Cite book |last=Standring |first=Susan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1201341621 |title=Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-7020-7707-4 |edition=42th |location=New York |pages= |oclc=1201341621}}{{Rp|page=1368}}{{Cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Keith L. |title=Clinically Oriented Anatomy |last2=Dalley |first2=Arthur F. |last3=Agur |first3=Anne M. R. |publisher=Wolters Kluwer |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4963-4721-3 |edition=8th |location= |pages=786}} The floor of the fossa is formed mostly by the ischium; it is rough{{Rp|page=1354}} and thin (often to the point of transparency). The space of the fossa is continuous inferiorly with the acetabular notch.

The fossa does not contain any cartilage.{{Rp|page=1368}} It is occupied by the ligament of head of femur,{{cite web

|url = http://anatomy.uams.edu/anatomyhtml/bonespelvisss.html

|title = Bones and Joints of the Pelvis and Perineum - Self Study

|publisher = University of Arkansas

|year = 2001

|first = Patrick W.

|last = Tank

|access-date = 2008-08-26

|archive-date = 2018-10-12

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181012102356/http://anatomy.uams.edu/anatomyhtml/bonespelvisss.html

|url-status = dead

}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=August 2023}} and by fibroelastic adipose tissue{{Cite book |last1=Palastanga |first1=Nigel |title=Anatomy and Human Movement: Structure and Function |last2=Soames |first2=Roger |publisher=Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7020-3553-1 |edition=6th |series=Physiotherapy Essentials |location=Edinburgh |pages=291}}{{Rp|page=1368}} (within which the acetabular branch of the obturator artery ramifies{{Rp|page=1250}}) that is mostly lined with synovial membrane.{{Rp|page=1368}} The acetabular "fat pad" is thought to contain abundant proprioceptive nerve endings that sense compression of the fat pad or its displacement through the acetabular notch, producing proprioceptive information.