Sports-related lesions of the pubic symphysis

Osteitis pubis is a general term, which has been used in the literature for various types of lesions with or without any evidence of infection. We assessed 12 cases of pubic pain in sportsmen. The pubic uptake of technetium 99 MDP in these cases was found to be of doubtful value. Radiographic findings varied from just sclerosis to fragmentation and irregularity at the symphysis pubis. Our observation revealed that this is a self-limiting disease. It is invariably a traumatic lesion and should be called stress symphysitis of the pubis, and must be distinguished from purely infective lesions, e.g. pyogenic osteitis pubis