Niyazi İĞDE, Ahmet KESKİN, Mustafa SERPİ
Eurasian Journal of Medical Investigation - 2026;10(1):32-36
Objectives: The aim of this study whether the greater trochanter-iliotibial band (GT-ITB) distance measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is associated with greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS). Methods: A total of 384 patients with clinically diagnosed GTPS and 384 asymptomatic controls were included and matched 1:1 by age and sex. The GT-ITB distance was defined as the shortest distance between the greater trochanter and the ITB on axial MRI at maximal trochanteric prominence. Group comparisons, sex-stratified analyses, logistic regression models, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed. Results: The mean GT-ITB distance was slightly shorter in the GTPS group compared with controls (p=0.049). In sex-stratified analyses, this difference was significant in women (p=0.005) but not in men. In adjusted logistic regression, each 1-mm increase in GT-ITB distance was associated with a modest reduction in the odds of GTPS (OR 0.964; 95% CI 0.930-0.999). The association remained significant in women but not in men. Discriminative performance was poor (AUC 0.54). Conclusion: A shorter GT-ITB distance was weakly associated with GTPS, predominantly in women. Although not diagnostically discriminatory, this measurement may reflect a morphological factor related to peritrochanteric compression in GTPS.
