The peroneal tubercle: description, classification, and relevance to peroneus longus tendon pathology

The size and configuration of the peroneal tubercle has been implicated in the pathogenesis of peroneal tendon tears and tenosynovitis. The purpose of this study was to determine the size and prevalence of the peroneal tubercle and devise a classification scheme according to the structure of the tubercle.

One hundred and seventeen calcanei were selected from 59 human skeletons in an osteological collection (one calcaneus was missing). Three were excluded because of the poor condition, leaving 114 calcanei. The peroneal tubercle was measured in length, height, and depth and its structure subjectively described as flat, prominent, concave, or tunnel for each specimen when present.

This study revealed a peroneal tubercle prevalence of 90.4% (103) in 114 calcanei. The average length, height, and depth of the tubercle were 13.04 mm (range 3.61 mm to 26.66 mm), 9.44 mm (range 3.67 mm to 23.40 mm), and 3.13 mm (range 1 to 10), respectively. The peroneal tubercle was classified structurally as flat in 44 (42.7%), prominent in 30 (29.1%), concave in 28 (27.2%), and tunnel in one (1.0%).

This data may further help to understand the size and assorted configurations of the peroneal tubercle and how they relate to peroneus longus tendon pathology.