ORIGINAL ARTICLE  SPORT INJURIES AND REHABILITATION 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2022 September;62(9):1199-1210

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.21.13322-5

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Long-standing groin pain syndrome in athletic women: a multidisciplinary assessment in keeping with the Italian Consensus Agreement

Gian N. BISCIOTTI ^{1, 2} ✉, Alessio AUCI ³, Stefano BONA ⁴, Alessandro BISCIOTTI ², Andrea BISCIOTTI ², Gabriella CASSAGHI ², Francesco DI MARZO ⁵, Francesco DI PIETTO ⁶, Cristiano EIRALE ¹, Manlio PANASCÌ ⁷, Federica PARRA ², Raul ZINI ^{8, 9}

¹ Paris Saint Germain FC, Paris, France; ² Kinemove Rehabilitations Center, Pontremoli, Massa-Carrara, Italy; ³ Azienda USL Toscana Nord-Ovest, Massa, Massa-Carrara, Italy; ⁴ IRCCS Humanitas Clinic, Rozzano, Milan, Italy; ⁵ Valtiberina Hospital, USL Toscana Sudest, Sansepolco, Arezzo, Italy; ⁶ Pineta Grande Hospital, Castel Volturno, Caserta, Italy; ⁷ S. Carlo di Nancy Hospital, Rome, Italy; ⁸ University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; ⁹ Maria Cecilia Hospital, Cotignola, Ravenna, Italy

BACKGROUND: Long-standing groin pain syndrome (LSGPS) is a form of groin pain syndrome in which the cohort of symptoms reported by patients is experienced for a long period, typically for over 12 weeks, and is recalcitrant to any conservative therapy. The aim of this prospective epidemiological study was to describe the clinical causes of LSGPS in 37 female athletic subjects in Italy through the Groin Pain Syndrome Italian Consensus Conference on terminology, clinical evaluation and imaging assessment in groin pain in athletes’ classification and guidelines.
METHODS: Thirty-seven female athletes affected by LSGPS were evaluated following the guidelines issued by the Groin Pain Syndrome Italian Consensus Conference on terminology, clinical evaluation and imaging assessment of groin pain in athletes.
RESULTS: In the considered population, each patient presented only one pathological cause for LSGPS. The most frequent etiologies were inguinal pathologies (54.05% of the cases), acetabular labrum tear (18.92%) and pelvic floor disorders (8.11%). Adductor tendinopathy represented only 2.70% of cases.
CONCLUSIONS: Female athletic patients affected by LSGPS show a similar incidence of inguinal and hip pathologies as in male populations. However, these clinical situations do not seem to be associated in women unlike in the male population. This difference is probably due to particular anatomical differences related to gender. For this reason, women affected by LSGPS represent an important subset of patients. Moreover, adductor tendinopathy is probably overrated as an etiopathogenetic source of LSGPS in women.

KEY WORDS: Pelvic floor disorders; Tendinopathy; Athletes