Outcome of Athletic Chronic Groin Injury Treated with Conservative Management: 687

PURPOSE: To determine the outcome of athletic chronic groin injury treated with rest. METHODS: Professional Australian male football players presenting at the end of the football playing season with chronic groin injury (groin pain lasting longer than 6 weeks, impaired training and/or playing performance) were included in this study. Athletes diagnosed as having a hip cause for their groin injury were excluded. All athletes had magnetic resonance imaging upon diagnosis and had standardized treatment consisting principally of 12 weeks of complete rest from active weight-bearing activities. Response to treatment was measured by the number of athletes playing at the 1. commencement of subsequent regular season including number with and without symptoms (shorter term criteria) and 2.end of the subsequent regular season including the number with and without symptoms (longer term criteria). Confounding factors such as duration of symptoms and duration of rest prior to initial assessment were accounted for. RESULTS: Thirty athletes had groin pain with 27 being diagnoses as having a non-hip related chronic groin injury. MRI demonstrated the presence of pubic bone marrow edema in 26(96%) and a hyperintense line in 25(93%) of athletes. Table 1 demonstrates the response to treatment.TableConclusions: Conservative management of athletic chronic groin injury resulted in a satisfactory outcome when assessed by shorter term and longer term criteria. 89% of injured athletes had a successful return to sport in the subsequent playing season. This suggests that rest from active weight-bearing activities should be the initial treatment of choice when dealing with this troublesome condition.