Skip to main content

Groin Pain: An Overview of the Broad Differential Diagnosis

  • Chapter
The SAGES Manual of Groin Pain

Abstract

Groin pain can be disabling for patients, and complex to diagnose and treat for physicians. Various processes can lead to local inflammation, nerve irritation or injury, or referred pain, and present as groin pain. This includes primary processes such as inguinal and femoral hernias, urologic and gynecologic pathology, and hip and lumbar pathology. Secondary groin pain can occur following inguinal hernia repair and lumbar spine surgery.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Dabbas N, Adams K, Pearson K, Royle G. Frequency of abdominal wall hernias: is classical teaching out of date? JRSM Short Rep. 2011;2(1):5.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Russell RC, Williams NS, Bulstrode CJ. Bailey & Love’s short practice of surgery. 23rd ed. London: Hodder Arnold; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bay-Nielsen M, Kehlet H, Strand L, Malmstrøm J, Andersen FH, Wara P, Danish Hernia Database Collaboration, et al. Quality assessment of 26,304 herniorrhaphies in Denmark: a prospective nationwide study. Lancet. 2001;358(9288):1124–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Diesen DL, Pappas TN. Sports hernias. Adv Surg. 2007;41:177–87.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Laor T. Hip and groin pain in adolescents. Pediatr Radiol. 2010;40(4):461–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Gilmore J. Groin pain in the soccer athlete: fact, fiction, and treatment. Clin Sports Med. 1998;17(4):787–93.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Preskitt JT. Sports hernia: the experience of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2011;24(2):89–91.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cavalli M, Bombini G, Campanelli G. Pubic inguinal pain syndrome: the so-called sports hernia. Surg Technol Int. 2014;24:189–94.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Swan Jr KG, Wolcott M. The athletic hernia: a systematic review. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2007;455:78–87.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Yukawa Y, Kato F, Kajino G, Nakamura S, Nitta H. Groin pain associated with lower lumbar disc herniation. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1997;22(15):1736–9. Discussion 1740.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Oikawa Y, Ohtori S, Koshi T, Takaso M, Inoue G, Orita S, et al. Lumbar disc degeneration induces persistent groin pain. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012;37(2):114–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Takahashi Y, Morinaga T, Nakamura S, Suseki K, Takahashi K, Nakajima Y. Neural connection between the ventral portion of the lumbar intervertebral disc and the groin skin. J Neurosurg. 1996;85(2):323–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ben-Chaim J, Leibovitch I, Ramon J, Winberg D, Goldwasser B. Etiology of acute scrotum at surgical exploration in children, adolescents and adults. Eur Urol. 1992;21(1):45–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Davis JE, Silverman M. Scrotal emergencies. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2011;29(3):469–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Beni-Israel T, Goldman M, Bar Chaim S, Kozer E. Clinical predictors of testicular torsion as seen in the pediatric ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2010;28(7):786–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Lewis AG, Bukowski TP, Jarvis PD, Wacksman J, Sheldon CA. Evaluation of the acute scrotum in the emergency department. J Pediatr Surg. 1995;30(2):277–81. Discussion 281–2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Sharp VJ, Kieran K, Arlen AM. Testicular torsion: diagnosis, evaluation, and management. Am Fam Physician. 2013;88(12):835–40.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Visser AJ, Heyns CF. Testicular function after torsion of the spermatic cord. BJU Int. 2003;92(33):200–3.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Hatipoglu S, Hatipoglu F, Abdullayev R. Acute right lower abdominal pain in women of reproductive age: clinical clues. World J Gastroenterol. 2014;20(14):4043–9.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Barash JH, Buchanan EM, Hillson C. Diagnosis and management of ectopic pregnancy. Am Fam Physician. 2014;90(1):34–40.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Chang HC, Bhatt S, Dogra VS. Pearls and pitfalls in diagnosis of ovarian torsion. Radiographics. 2008;28(5):1355–68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Evsen MS, Soydinc HE. Emergent gynecological operations: a report of 105 cases. J Clin Exp Invest. 2010;1(1):12–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Callesen T, Bech K, Kehlet H. Prospective study of chronic pain after groin hernia repair. Br J Surg. 1999;86(12):1528–31.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. O’Dwyer PJ, Alani A, McConnachie A. Groin hernia repair: postherniorrhaphy pain. World J Surg. 2005;29(8):1062–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Ferzli GS, Edwards ED, Khoury GE. Chronic pain after inguinal herniorrhaphy. J Am Coll Surg. 2007;205(2):333–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Aasvang E, Kehlet H. Surgical management of chronic pain after inguinal hernia repair. Br J Surg. 2005;92(7):795–801.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Rodgers WB, Gerber EJ, Patterson J. Intraoperative and early postoperative complications in extreme lateral interbody fusion: an analysis of 600 cases. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2011;36(1):26–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Tohmeh AG, Rodgers WB, Peterson MD. Dynamically evoked, discrete-threshold electromyography in the extreme lateral interbody fusion approach. J Neurosurg Spine. 2011;14(1):31–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Lykissas MG, Aichmair A, Sama AA, Hughes AP, Lebl DR, Cammisa FP, Girardi FP. Nerve injury and recovery after lateral lumbar interbody fusion with and without bone morphogenetic protein-2 augmentation: a cohort-controlled study. Spine J. 2014;14(2):217–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Archana Ramaswamy M.D., F.A.C.S., F.R.C.S.C. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ma, C., Ramaswamy, A. (2016). Groin Pain: An Overview of the Broad Differential Diagnosis. In: Jacob, B., Chen, D., Ramshaw, B., Towfigh, S. (eds) The SAGES Manual of Groin Pain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21587-7_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21587-7_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21586-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21587-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics