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Groin Pain Syndromes in Athletes: “Sports Hernia”

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Abstract

Groin pain in athletes continues to be elusive to most physicians and even more frustrating for patients suffering with symptoms. Most often termed sports hernia, athletic pubalgia, or Gilmore’s groin, many surgeons scoff at the diagnosis secondary to a knowledge gap and the limited scope of the literature. There continues to be a lack of understanding of the basic pathophysiology in these groin pain syndromes. In addition, many surgeons’ previous experiences with operative management for groin pain have been disheartening due to subtle or no appreciable anatomical changes at exploration as well as high failure rates to resolve the patients’ symptoms. This chapter is aimed at clarifying the anatomy and pathophysiology that have been found in groin pain syndromes, as well as the therapeutic and surgical approaches that have been used.

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Correspondence to Craig S. Mauro .

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© 2019 Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES)

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Zuckerbraun, B.S., Mauro, C.S. (2019). Groin Pain Syndromes in Athletes: “Sports Hernia”. In: Davis, Jr., S., Dakin, G., Bates, A. (eds) The SAGES Manual of Hernia Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78411-3_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78411-3_38

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-78410-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-78411-3

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