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. Pauwel's angle is named after the German orthopedist :de:Friedrich Pauwels|Friedrich Pauwels.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.
