Groin injuries are among the three most common and time-consuming injuries in football, accounting for 8-18% of all injuries and with an incidence of 0.4-1.3 injuries per 1,000 hours of football play. 1 A study looking exclusively at acute groin injuries in Swedish soccer found an incidence of 0.8 injuries per 1,000 hours of play, and a Danish study found that 39% of diagnosed groin injuries during one season were acute injuries. 2,3
Groin injuries have historically been challenging to diagnose and treat. A wide range of diagnoses have been described, with an equally long list of different treatment options. In an effort to help clarify the diagnostic terminology used to describe groin injuries in football players, the World Conference on Groin Pain in Athletes was held in 2014.
In the vast majority of cases, groin injuries are managed non-surgically with a period of coordinated rehabilitation. In some situations, surgical management can be useful, however.