Groin disruption (Gilmore’s Groin) is a severe musculo-tendinous injury of the groin, which can be successfully treated by the surgical restoration of normal anatomy. It is (nearly always) a sports related injury with a well-recognised set of symptoms and signs.
The syndrome of Gilmore’s Groin goes under many names and has also become known amongst other things as sportsman’s groin, sportsman’s hernia, groin disruption, footballer’s groin, footballer’s hernia and athletic pubalgia, inguinal disruption and inguinal related groin pain amongst many others.
Symptoms
In a third of people there is a specific injury that brings on the pain. This might have involved over stretching, excessive kicking or miskicking or perhaps the leg being forced away from the body or turned outwards forcibly.
Over the years we have noticed that people who have suffer from this condition face a fairly characteristic set of symptoms. These include
- Pain with running, twisting, turning and kicking – In most people it seems to be more of an “overuse” condition and the symptoms come on gradually. During sport, pain in the groin increases with accelerating, sprinting, twisting and turning, lunging, dead ball kicking or long ball kicking.
- Post-game stiffness and soreness, often much worse the next day
- Pain when rising from a low position – Typically, the groin is stiff and sore for several days after exercise and there may be pain with sit-ups, rising from a low position (for example getting out of bed or in and out of a car), coughing, sneezing and any sudden movement.
- Only a third of patients can remember a specific injury, usually involving overstretching
Usually there is nothing to see in the painful groin and in particular there is no lump. Very rarely if there has been a sudden, severe, tear there may be a lot of bruising.
