by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Hip anatomy

Ask during the case

  1. Before incision: "Which interval are we using today, and which nerve supplies the muscle on each side of it?"
  2. On the capsule: "What's the last muscle layer we went through, and what's lying just past my anterior (or posterior) retractor?"
  3. At closure: "Which nerve would make this patient limp if we'd hurt it, and how high above the trochanter does it run?"

Point at: the interval as you open it, and the last muscle on the capsule, while they name it.

End of day: "Redraw the hip cross-section and draw today's approach on it." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

The night before. They prep alone, redraw at turnover, and get a cold check tomorrow morning. They won't see these questions.

Open the student page

Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.