Five to ten percent of athletes and physical active adults are suffering chronic groin pain. The most common diagnoses are adductor tendinitis, sportsman hernia and osteitis pubis. Sportsman hernia is not a real hernia in the groin, but overuse injury of the groin muscles and tendons. No evidence-based treatment of this disabling condition has been found so far. Experimental surgical treatments are based on various hernioplasties. Laparoscopic extraperitoneal hernioplasty (TEP) is a mini-invasive and effective method to heal sportsman hernia in non-randomized cohorts.

This prospective randomized study investigates the effect of active conservative treatment (rest, physical treatment, corticosteroid injections, anti-inflammatory analgesics) versus surgery (laparoscopic TEP) on the healing of sportsman hernia. Diagnosis of sportsman hernia is always based on careful clinical examination and magnetic resonance imaging. 25 patients with sportsman hernia are randomized into conservative treatment and 25 patients in surgery. The duration of follow-up is 1 year. The main end-point of treatments is disappearing of chronic groin pain (visual analogue scale, entering to sports).

Inclusion Criteria:

• severe groin pain lasting > 6 months
• sportsman hernia

Exclusion Criteria:

• other diagnosis ruled out by MRI and clinical examination