Fusion of the short lateral rotators of the thigh and posterior fibers of the gluteus medius with a variant course of the common fibular nerve

Abstract

During the dissection of an 80-year-old male cadaver, fused tendons of four lateral rotators of the thigh and the posterior portion of gluteus medius muscle that attached to the greater trochanter of femur through a common tendon were detected. The common fibular nerve coursed between the posterior fibers of gluteus medius and piriformis muscle and merged with the tibial nerve in the subgluteal space. Variations of the lateral rotators of the thigh and the course of the sciatic nerve divisions is widely reported but no report similar to this case has been found. The addition of the posterior fibers of the gluteus medius to the lateral rotators on the common tendon would probably reinforce the ability of these muscles in laterally rotating the thigh. Such variation of attachment with variant course of the common fibular nerve could also be associated with different pain syndromes in the gluteal region.