Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Oct 18, 2015; 6(9): 672-679
Published online Oct 18, 2015. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v6.i9.672
Osteitis pubis in elite athletes: Diagnostic and therapeutic approach
Antonios G Angoules
Antonios G Angoules, Department of Medical Laboratories, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, 12243 Athens, Greece
Author contributions: Angoules AG conceived the issues which formed the content of the manuscript and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author has no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Antonios G Angoules, MD, PhD, Department of Medical Laboratories, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, 28 Agiou Spiridonos St, 12243 Athens, Greece. antoniosangoules@yahoo.com
Telephone: +30-6-977011617
Received: May 26, 2015
Peer-review started: May 28, 2015
First decision: June 18, 2015
Revised: July 13, 2015
Accepted: August 4, 2015
Article in press: August 7, 2015
Published online: October 18, 2015
Processing time: 147 Days and 9.8 Hours
Abstract

Osteitis pubis (OP) is a debilitating overuse syndrome characterizing by pelvic pain and local tenderness over the pubic symphysis commonly encountered in athletes often involved in kicking, twisting and cutting activities in sports such as soccer and rugby and to a lesser degree distance running. It is a common source of groin pain in elite athletes attributable to pubis sympysis instability as the result of microtrauma caused by repetitive muscle strains on pubic bones. Diagnosis is based mainly on detailed sports history and a meticulous clinical examination, although occasionally is difficult to distinguish this nosological entity from other pathologies affecting the involved area which may occur concomitantly in the same patient. Radiologic examinations such as plain radiographs, magnetic resonance imaging and 3 phase bone isotope scanning may be helpful to differentiate from other clinical entities with similar clinical presentation. Most cases respond well to conservative treatment which includes several physical modalities and especially a progressive rehabilitation programmed individualized to each one of patients diagnosed with OP. Local injection therapies have been also been proposed as a non-operative therapeutic option for the efficient management of these patients. In refractory cases, surgical therapeutic strategies are warranted. These include several open or minimally invasive surgical interventions such as arthroscopic or open symphysis curettage, wedge or total resection of pubic sympysis, polypropylene mesh placement and pubic fusion. In this review a critical analysis of OP in elite athletes is performed with special focus on current concepts of diagnosis and management of this source of athletic groin pain.

Keywords: Osteitis pubis; Groin pain; Sports overuse injuries; Conservative management; Surgery

Core tip: A high degree of suspicion for the presence of osteitis pubis (OP) should be raised at the clinician involved in the investigation and management of groin pain in the elite athletes with repetitive strenuous activities on pubic bones and the surrounding soft tissues. Early recognition of this ailment is imperative to avoid mismanage and to secure early and uneventful return to full sports activities. OP is usually a self-limited pathologic condition and most of the cases recover spontaneously or respond well to conservative treatment. However, in chronic recalcitrant cases, the surgical approach is instituted. No one of the proposed surgical therapeutic strategies until today, is proven to be superior over the other.