Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2008; 12: 003-012 DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1067933
© Thieme Medical Publishers
Spectrum of MRI Findings in Clinical Athletic Pubalgia
Donald C. Zajick1, Adam C. Zoga1, Imran M. Omar2, William C. Meyers3
1 Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2 Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 3 Department of Surgery, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT

Athletic pubalgia is a frequently encountered syndrome for clinicians who treat active patients participating in a wide variety of athletic endeavors worldwide. Pathologies associated with this clinical scenario span anatomically from the pubic symphysis to the hip and include a myriad of poorly understood and incompletely described musculoskeletal entities, many of which are centered about the pubic symphysis and its tendinous attachments. In this article, we discuss the relevant anatomy and pathophysiology for the most frequently encountered of these disorders, using magnetic resonance (MR) images as a guide. We describe an MR imaging protocol tailored to clinical athletic pubalgia. We then review reproducible MRI patterns of pathology about the pubic symphysis, the rectus abdominis/adductor aponeurosis and the inguinal ring, as well as a group of clinically confounding entities remote from the symphysis but visible by MRI.

KEYWORDS

Pubalgia - sports hernia - osteitis pubis - groin pain - athletes' groin - magnetic resonance imaging