MRI and ultrasound criteria for the diagnosis of a sports hernia in football players

Abstract

The aimof the study is to specify diagnostic MRI and ultrasound criteria for a sports hernia in order to verify its diagnosis in football players. Materials and methods: The study included 50 professional and amateur football players aged 15 to 34 from 2016 to 2019. The criteria for inclusion in the study were: the presence of groin pain in football players, which prevented them from continuing to actively participate in sports activities. Results: The findings of the study revealed that during MRI the two factors, which had the strongest influence, were “increased MR signal intensity on PDfs observed from the structures of the inguinal canal” and “increased MR signal intensity on PDfs observed from bone marrow of superior ramus of the pubic bone”. During ultrasound of the inguinal area, the main criterion for a sports hernia diagnosis was “increased size of the inguinal canal”. The verification of the diagnosis was carried out on the basis of the presence of a protrusion in the posterior wall of the inguinal canal.For a sports hernia diagnosis the MRI sensitivity is 91.67% (95% CI 77.5 – 98.2), specificity –78.57% (95% CI 49.2 – 95.3) and the sensitivity of ultrasound is 88.89% (95% CI 73.9 – 96.9), the specificity – 50% (95% CI 23.0 – 77). Conclusions:The combination of MRI and ultrasound makes it possible to accurately detect the presence of a sports hernia in the football player. Based on the findings of our study, we formulated MRI and ultrasound criteria for a sports hernia diagnosis.