Imaging assessment of groin pain

Musculoskelet Surg. 2013 Aug:97 Suppl 2:S109-16. doi: 10.1007/s12306-013-0278-8. Epub 2013 Aug 15.

Abstract

Groin pain is a common condition in athletes, especially those who play certain sports, for instance soccer, ice hockey, fencing which request rapid acceleration and frequent changes of movement. This condition represents a diagnostic difficulty for the radiologist due to either the anatomical pubic region complexity than the many causes that can be a source of pain, because the groin pain can be determined by conditions affecting the bony structures, cartilage and muscle tendons that are part of the proper pubis but also from those involving the hip. The approach to the groin through diagnostic imaging is multidisciplinary: The study of the patient is performed by traditional radiographs, ultrasound examination, magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography, based on clinical suspicion, and each of these methods provides different results depending on the disease in question. The purpose of this article is to examine what are the optimal imaging techniques to investigate the various diseases affecting the patient with groin pain.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Abdominal Muscles / injuries
  • Athletic Injuries / complications
  • Athletic Injuries / diagnosis*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Groin / injuries*
  • Humans
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Muscular Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Muscular Diseases / etiology
  • Pain / diagnosis*
  • Pain / etiology
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Psoas Muscles / injuries
  • Pubic Bone / injuries
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Factors
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Sports Medicine
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed