ABSTRACT
HYPOTHESIS: A multi-modal treatment program (MMT) is more effective than exercise therapy (ET) for the treatment of long-standing adductor-related groin pain. STUDY DESIGN: Single blinded, prospective, randomised controlled trial. PATIENTS: Athletes with pain at the proximal insertion of the adductor muscles on palpation and resisted adduction for at least two months. INTERVENTIONS: ET: a home-based ET and a structured return to running program with instruction on three occasions from a sports physical therapist. MMT: Heat, Van den Akker manual therapy followed by stretching and a return to running program. PRIMARY OUTCOME: time to return to full sports participation. SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: objective outcome score and the visual analogue pain score during sports activities. Outcome was assessed at 0, 6, 16 and 24 weeks. RESULTS: Athletes who received MMT returned to sports quicker (12.8 weeks, SD 6.0) than athletes in the ET group (17.3 weeks, SD 4.4. p = 0.043). Only 50-55% of athletes in both groups made a full return to sports. There was no difference between the groups in objective outcome (p = 0.72) or VAS during sports (p = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: The multi-modal program resulted in a significantly quicker return to sports than ET plus return to running but neither treatment was very effective.
Subject(s)
Athletic Injuries/rehabilitation , Exercise Therapy , Groin , Musculoskeletal Manipulations , Pain/rehabilitation , Adolescent , Adult , Chronic Disease , Combined Modality Therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Osteitis/rehabilitation , Prospective Studies , Single-Blind Method , Tendinopathy/rehabilitationABSTRACT
The objective was to retrospectively examine whether a manual therapy technique is effective in the treatment of chronic adductor-related groin pain in athletes. Thirty-three athletes with chronic adductor-related groin pain were approached. Thirty patients gave their consent to participate in the study. Patient satisfaction, return to activity and numeric pain score were recorded. Patients were treated after prewarming of the muscles; one hand is used to control the tension in the adductor muscles and the other hand is used to move the hip into abduction and external rotation. This flowing, circular motion stretches the adductor muscle group. The movement is repeated three times in one treatment session. Twenty-five out of 30 (83%) athletes reported a good or excellent satisfaction. Twenty-seven out of 30 (90%) athletes had resumed sport at (15/30) or below (12/30) their previous level of activity. The pain score for during or after activity decreased significantly from 8.7 to 2.2 after the treatment (P<0.01). This study shows that the manual therapy treatment might be a promising treatment for chronic adductor-related groin pain in athletes.
