Clinical usefulness of the pelvic mobility test for groin pain

Abstract

The superior cleft sign and/or secondary cleft sign as MRI findings for groin pain was the only independent factor of the MRI findings associated with a delayed time to return-to-play. The purpose of this study was to examine usefulness of the pelvic mobility test as an assessment of clinical findings for groin pain with following three points, 1) the positive rate of the pelvic mobility test with or without cleft sign, 2) the laterality association between the positive side of the pelvic mobility and painful area, and 3) the effect of the pelvic mobility test positive on the time from the first visit to return-to-play. The inclusion criteria were 300 groin pain patients, all of whom were taken MRI ranging in age from 16 to 40 years old. Patients with hip-related groin pain was excluded. As a result, the positive rate of the pelvic mobility test was significantly higher in the cases with cleft sign more than no cleft sign (p<0.01). No association was found between the positive side of the pelvic mobility test and painful area. The cases with cleft sign and the pelvic mobility test positive significantly took longer time to return-to-play than the others: the cases with cleft sign and the pelvic mobility test negative, the cases with no cleft sign and the pelvic mobility test positive, and with no cleft sign and the pelvic mobility test negative (p<0.05, p<0.001, and p<0.01, respectively). The pelvic mobility test was demonstrated to be useful as an assessment of clinical findings for groin pain.