www.nhgi.co.uk, Northern Hip & Groin Institute, Joint Replacement Knee Hip, Arthroscopy, Computer Assisted, Sports, Schilders, Kluge, Leeds, Bradford, Yorkshire

Damage occuring in sportsmen's hernia

There might be a tear in the front wall of the canal and the external inguinal ring is dilated. The small ilioinguinal nerve might get trapped in this tear and cause pain.

The back wall of the groin canal might have stretched causing pain with exercise, coughing and sneezing.

Treatment

Non operative treatment is usually not successful. Some patients report improvement of their symptoms at rest but the pain usually returns with sportive activities.

There is more or less consensus about surgical treatment for this condition. Some surgeons prefer laparoscopic repair others prefer open repair.

In our opinion the open repair provides consistent results with return to sportive activities within 6 weeks. The damaged structures as descriebed earlier are repaired through a small incision.