Gerdy's tubercle or anterolateral tibial tubercle, is a lateral

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projectio ...

of the

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

, located where the iliotibial tract inserts. It was named after French surgeon Pierre Nicolas Gerdy (1797–1856). Gerdy's tubercle is a smooth facet on the lateral aspect of the upper part of the tibia, just below the

knee joint In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the ...

and adjacent to the proximal tibio-fibular joint, where the iliotibial tract runs down the outside part of the

thigh In anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone tissu ...

. It is the point of insertion for the iliotibial band of the lateral thigh. It is used as a site for the insertion of a periosteal needle by which intramedullary fluids may be infused in neonates. It can be fractured along with the tibial tuberosity. It has been used as a source for bone grafts. The peroneal nerve runs near to it.

References

Tibia {{musculoskeletal-stub