GROIN PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH ULTRASOUND FINDING OF INGUINAL CANAL POSTERIOR WALL DEFICIENCY IN AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALLERS

Objectives - To investigate the prevalence of inguinal canal posterior wall deficiency (sports hernia) in professional Australian Rules foot ballers using an ultrasound technique and correlate the results with t he clinical symptom of groin pain. Methods - Thirty five professional Australian footballers with and without groin pain were investigated b lind with a dynamic high resolution ultrasound technique for presence of posterior wall deficiency. Results - Fourteen players had a history of significant recent groin pain and ten of these were found to have bilateral inguinal canal posterior wall deficiency (p < 0.01). The rel ative risk for a history of groin pain with bilateral deficiency was 8 .0 (95% confidence interval 1.73 to 37.1). Groin pain was also found t o be associated with increasing age (p < 0.01) which was an independen t risk factor. Surgical, clinical, and ultrasound follow up for player s who underwent hernia repair confirmed the validity of ultrasound as a diagnostic tool. Conclusions - Dynamic ultrasound examination is abl e to detect inguinal canal posterior wall deficiency in young males wi th no clinical signs of hernia. This condition is very prevalent in pr ofessional Australian Rules footballers, including some who are asympt omatic. There was a correlation between bilateral deficiency and groin pain, although the temporal relationship between the clinical and ult rasound findings is not established by the current study. Ultrasound s hows promise as a diagnostic tool in athletes with chronic groin pain who are considered possible candidates for hernia repair.