A comparison of dry needle placement accuracy rates between two approaches targeting the gluteus medius osteotendinous junction in cadavers.
Bryan Dinh, James Dunning, Gary A Kearns and 3 others
PMID 40476608WHAT IT FOUND
In cadaver hips, using the donor's fingerbreadths to locate the needle insertion point reached the target tendon attachment 9 times out of 10.
Estimating the point by eye between the hip and tailbone reached it only once. This suggests using body-specific measurements improves accuracy.
Key findings
01Technique 1, which uses the donor's fingerbreadths to locate the insertion point, reached the gluteus medius osteotendinous junction in 9 out of 10 hips (90% accuracy).
02Technique 2, which estimates one-third of the distance between the greater trochanter and sacro-coccygeal hiatus, reached the target in only 1 out of 10 hips (10% accuracy).
03Needles from Technique 2 that missed the target primarily landed in the vastus lateralis tendon or muscle belly.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was performed on embalmed cadavers, which have stiffer tissues than living patients, potentially altering needle path and depth. There was no patient feedback or muscle response to guide placement, which is a key part of clinical practice. Only one investigator placed the needles, so the results reflect that specific person's skill and interpretation of the landmarks. The sample size was very small (10 hips), and the two techniques were not compared in a randomized order within the same hip in a way that controls for individual anatomical variation fully.
Declared interests
The authors reported no funding associated with the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the 90% accuracy in cadavers as a guarantee of success in patients. Embalmed tissue is significantly stiffer than living muscle, and the lack of patient feedback or real-time anatomical variation (like muscle tone or swelling) means clinical accuracy may differ substantially.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →