Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery
Original ArticleAnatomy and Dimensions of the Gluteus Medius Tendon Insertion
Section snippets
Methods
Eight fresh-frozen cadaveric hips were used. The mean specimen age was 82 years (range, 71 to 91 years). None of the specimens (2 female and 6 male) had undergone prior hip surgery, nor did they have evidence of abductor tears. Each hip was dissected leaving only the most distal portions of the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus tendons attached to the greater trochanter. The most proximal portion of the vastus lateralis was left attached to the vastus ridge. The periphery of each tendon
Results
The gluteus medius tendon inserts into the greater trochanter by way of 2 distinct attachment sites, the superoposterior facet and the lateral facet. The tendinous portion inserting into the superoposterior facet is stout, with a shape approximating that of a least squares circle with a radius of 8.5 mm (SD, 1.0 mm). The surface area of this superoposterior insertion was 196.5 mm2 (SD, 48.4 mm2).
The tendinous portion attaching to the lateral facet of the greater trochanter is more rectangular
Discussion
Tears of the gluteus medius tendon insertion are a recognized cause of recalcitrant lateral-sided hip pain.3 Surgical repair of these tears has been shown to provide symptomatic pain relief and restore abductor function.2 A less invasive arthroscopic approach by which to repair these tears has been proposed18; however, the dimensional characteristics of the gluteus medius footprint are not well understood. The principal findings of our study are that the gluteus medius tendon inserts into the
Conclusions
The gluteus medius tendon has 2 distinct and consistent insertion sites onto the greater trochanter, the lateral facet and the superoposterior facet portions. This information will provide surgeons with a better understanding of the footprint anatomy when evaluating gluteus medius tendon tears.
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The authors report no conflict of interest.