The greater trochanter is a large, laterally placed bony mass that projects superiorly and posteriorly where the neck joins the femoral shaft, providing attachment and leverage for abductors and rotators of the thigh. The site where the neck and shaft join is indicated by the intertrochanteric line, a roughened ridge formed by the attachment of a powerful ligament (iliofemoral ligament). The intertrochanteric line runs from the greater trochanter and winds around the lesser trochanter to continue posteriorly and inferiorly as a less distinct ridge, the spiral line.