Background: The best treatment of degenerative hip abductor tendon lesions remains largely unknown, as the natural course of the disease has not yet been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate the natural history of symptomatic degenerative hip abductor lesions.
Hypothesis: Nonoperatively treated hip abductor lesions progress over time, resulting in refractory hip pain and low functional outcomes.
Study design: Case series (prognosis); Level of evidence, 4.
Methods: Consecutive patients with greater trochanteric pain syndrome and degenerative changes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the symptomatic hip were included. Bilateral hip MRI scans and a clinical examination were performed at a minimum follow-up of 36 months to study the type and location of hip abductor lesion. Progression of a lesion was defined as a more severe lesion as compared with the initial MRI results or if the lesion extended to another, initially not involved, trochanteric facet. The muscle's fatty infiltration (FI) was also described.
Results: From 106 patients identified, 58 patients (64 hips) aged 66 ± 14 years (mean ± SD) agreed to return to the clinic for follow-up MRI and met the inclusion criteria. At a mean 71-month follow-up, an overall 34% (22/64) of lesions had progressed over time: from trochanteric bursitis to tendinopathy (9/64, 14%) or partial tear (5/64, 8%), from tendinopathy to partial tear (4/64, 6%), from a partial to complete tear (3/64, 4.5%), and with 1 complete tear (1/64, 1.5%) extending to another trochanteric facet. Interestingly, 90% of partial tears remained stable or transformed into a scar. Although patients with a progressive lesion experienced more trochanteric pain (visual analog scale, 4.6 vs 2.8; P = .001), the functional outcomes were comparable with patients with a stable lesion. The majority of hips with a partial tear (64%) demonstrated a progression of gluteus minimus FI from a median grade of 1 to 2, whereas only 1 hip (3%) progressed from grade 2 to 3. Only 3 hips (9%) with a partial tear had a progression of gluteus medius FI, which did not differ significantly from the contralateral unaffected side.
Conclusion: Nonoperative treatment might be a valid long-term option for degenerative hip abductor lesions, especially for partial tears, which demonstrated a low risk of clinically relevant progression or muscle FI and similar clinical outcomes to those reported in the literature for operatively treated hip abductor tendon lesions.
Keywords: fatty infiltration; greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS); hip abductor tendon tear; natural history; trochanteric bursitis.