Pauwel's angle

Pauwel's angle is the angle between the line of a fracture of the neck of the femur and the horizontal as seen on an anterio-posterior radiograph.

[2] Introduced in 1935, this system was the first biomechanical classification for femoral neck fractures, and is still in use.

[3] An increasing angle leads to a more unstable fracture and an increase in the shear stress at the fracture site.

This shear leads to higher rates of nonunion.

This article about orthopedic surgery is a stub.