Surgical or Conservative Treatment of Sportsman Hernia

Chronic Groin Pain and Sportsman Hernia of Athletes: Randomized Study Between Conservative Treatment and Laparoscopic Hernioplasty (TEP)

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00966589

Enrollment

Registered

2009-08-27

Start date

2008-01-31

Completion date

2010-02-28

Last updated

2017-03-09

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Groin Pain

Keywords

groin pain, sportsman hernia, osteitis pubis, laparoscopic surgery

Brief summary

Five to ten percent of athletes and physical active adults are suffering chronic groin pain. The most common diagnoses are adductor tendinitis, sportsman hernia and osteitis pubis. Sportsman hernia is not a real hernia in the groin, but overuse injury of the groin muscles and tendons. No evidence-based treatment of this disabling condition has been found so far. Experimental surgical treatments are based on various hernioplasties. Laparoscopic extraperitoneal hernioplasty (TEP) is a mini-invasive and effective method to heal sportsman hernia in non-randomized cohorts.

Detailed description

This prospective randomized study investigates the effect of active conservative treatment (rest, physical treatment, corticosteroid injections, anti-inflammatory analgesics) versus surgery (laparoscopic TEP) on the healing of sportsman hernia. Diagnosis of sportsman hernia is always based on careful clinical examination and magnetic resonance imaging. 25 patients with sportsman hernia are randomized into conservative treatment and 25 patients in surgery. The duration of follow-up is 1 year. The main end-point of treatments is disappearing of chronic groin pain (visual analogue scale, entering to sports).

Interventions

PROCEDURElaparoscopic hernioplasty (TEP)

Insertion of polypropylene mesh behind pubic bone

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 60 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* severe groin pain lasting \> 6 months * sportsman hernia

Exclusion criteria

* other diagnosis ruled out by MRI and clinical examination

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Decrease of groin pain measured by visual analogue scale (VAS)	1 year

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Return to sport activities	1 year

Countries

Finland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026