Passionate supporters in the AFL community will more than likely be familiar with the once frequently used diagnostic term, ‘osteitis pubis’. In the early 2000s, it seemed every second player was reported to be suffering from this troublesome injury of the hip/groin which was responsible for significant amounts of missed game time and a complex, challenging recovery period.
However, in recent times you may have noticed that it is very rarely being reported in the media by elite sports clubs. But why is this? Are therapists better at managing groin pain in sport? Is the term extinct? The answer might surprise you…..
Leading into 2014, there was a large amount of disagreement and uncertainty regarding the use of diagnostic terms for hip and groin pathology within the sports medicine and physiotherapy industry. Osteitis pubis, or OP, was often used as an umbrella term to describe a number of injuries which were potentially co-existing, and as such became easily recognisable by the public. It was widely accepted that an athlete with OP would require a lengthy rest period and a graded rehabilitation back into training and sport.
In November 2014, 24 experts in groin pain from a number of backgrounds and countries (including surgeons, sports physicians and physiotherapists) attended Qatar for a meeting to discuss the inconsistencies in hip and groin diagnostics. Prior to the meeting, each expert was given the same two case study examples. These included descriptions of relevant clinical symptoms, results of clinical tests and imaging findings for an athlete who was experiencing groin pain. They were then asked to independently provide their expert diagnosis.
For case study one;
NINE different diagnostic terms for primary diagnosis were used!
For case study two;
ELEVEN different diagnostic terms were used!!!
Across the two case studies, 22 different clinical terms were used to describe primary, secondary or tertiary injuries of the same two case studies! This clearly highlighted the need for an agreement on what should be considered accurate terminology when describing hip and groin pain. This would be critical in understanding the anatomical details of each athlete presentation and facilitating clear cross-referral between practitioners.
This meeting is known as the ‘Doha Agreement’. It advocated that long standing groin pain be classified under the following clinical entities;
- Adductor-related groin pain
- Iliopsoas-related groin pain
- Inguinal-related groin pain
- Pubic-related groin pain
- Hip-related groin pain
- Other conditions (including non-musculoskeletal diagnosis)
These clinical entities are often broken down with further more anatomically descriptive terminologies for deeper accuracy. However, many terms, including osteitis pubis, were not recommended for clinical use by the group of experts.
Since the Doha agreement clinicians are gradually becoming less comfortable with using the term osteitis pubis, and as such the public are hearing it less often. It is still occasionally used as it is easily recognisable by many sports fans, and this helps with honest translation of information from clubs to their fans.
Next time you hear OP mentioned in the media, understand that it is likely an injury related to one or more of the many tissues around the hip and groin such as the adductor muscles, the pubic bone, the hip joint or other physiological structures. An accurate and correctly descriptive diagnosis of a hip or groin injury can be obtained by collaborating information from reported symptoms, high quality clinical assessment and then complemented by diagnostic imaging findings. Once an accurate diagnosis is achieved, an appropriate rehabilitation and return to activity plan can be prescribed.
This accurate diagnosis is relevant if you are an athlete, if you enjoy non-competitive exercising or even to improve your ability to complete common daily tasks such as walking or shopping. The fantastic physiotherapists at CHP/CHPR/INP are experienced in working with sporting and non-sporting patients, and are your perfect first stop to work towards getting the answers to your troublesome hip or groin…. Hint; It’s not osteitis pubis.
Billy Williams, APAM
Bachelor of Physiotherapy
Graduate Certificate of Sports Physiotherapy
REFERENCE:
Weir. A., Brukner. P., Delahunt. E., et al. (2015). Doha agreement meeting on terminology and definitions in groin pain in athletes. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 49(12). 768-774.
