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Athletic Groin Pain

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Imaging of Orthopedic Sports Injuries

Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Diagn Imaging))

Abstract

Groin injury and pain account for a significant proportion of all athletic injuries particularly in sports involving kicking and sudden change of direction. Acute adductor and hip flexor muscle injuries are only second in incidence to hamstring injury. Non-acute or long-standing groin pain is also a complex clinical and radiological area with confusing terminology often being used. Research has largely focused on long-standing groin pain but increasing studies are now appearing on acute injury and prevention.

This chapter reviews the anatomy of the anterior pelvis and groin and illustrates the normal anatomy and normal variation seen in athletes. Imaging strategies will be discussed emphasising the use of MRI to evaluate the symphysis pubis and surrounding rectus abdominis-adductor longus aponeurosis. Clinical and imaging findings in athletes with acute and long-standing groin pain are described and illustrated. The evidence for the specificity of imaging findings in the context of asymptomatic athletes is also presented.

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Prasad, R., Abdulla, O., Robinson, P. (2021). Athletic Groin Pain. In: Vanhoenacker, F.M., Maas, M., Gielen, J.L. (eds) Imaging of Orthopedic Sports Injuries. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2020_254

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2020_254

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