Little Clinical Advantage of Muscle Sparing over Partial Resection of Gluteus Muscles in Minimally Invasive Anterolateral Total

Introduction Minimally invasive total hip arthroplasty (THA) has become common, and several approaches are now used clinically. We have been using an anterolateral (AL) approach with partial resection of the gluteus medius in minimally invasive THA. Recently, faster recovery has been reported using the AL approach with muscle sparing technique (modified Watson-Jones approach) [1]. Our concern is with the difference between muscle sparing and partial resection of the gluteus medius in minimally invasive THA. However, there have been no reports that describe the difference in clinical outcome between muscle sparing and partial resection. The purpose of this randomized study was to compare clinical outcomes using muscle sparing technique and partial resection of the gluteus medius in minimally invasive AL-THA.