Open surgical repair of hip abductor tendon tears.

Introduction: Tendinopathy and tendon tears of the gluteus medius and/or minimus (GMM) insertion at the greater trochanter are increasingly recognised internationally as a cause of recalcitrant lateral hip pain (LHP). The purpose of this study was to report the first Danish results of open surgical repair of GMM tears in female patients.

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we included 67 women (68 hips) with a mean (95% confidence interval (CI)) age of 59 (56-61) years who underwent open GMM repair between September 2018 and June 2022. All cases had magnetic resonance imaging before surgery. Pre-, three- and 12-month post-operative testing included LHP (numerical rating scale 0-10), Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS), Oxford Hip Score (OHS), the EuroQol-Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS) and the Global Rating of Change score (GROC). Responses on GROC were considered successful if patients scored "moderately better" to "very much better". Function of the lower limbs was assessed by the 30-second Chair-Stand-Test (CST).

Results: From pre-testing to 12-month follow-up, LHP at rest and during activity decreased significantly, all HAGOS subgroups improved by 27-35 points, the OHS improved from 22 to 35 points, the EQ-VAS improved from 52 to 72 points and the mean (95% CI) number of repetitions in the CST improved by 2.4 (1.4-3.3). Success on the GROC was reported by 79% of the patients.

Conclusion: Open surgical repair of GMM tendon tears in women produced statistically significant improvements in patient-reported outcomes at one-year follow-up.

Funding: None.

Trial registration: Not relevant.