Kristian Thorborg's Phd Thesis

Studies have shown that patients with hip and groin pathology often report symptoms which
are not restricted to the hip region.[31-34] The groin seems to be the most symptomatic
region when patients report pain related to pathological conditions involving the hip
joint.[31-34] These studies seem to confirm experiences from clinical practice, where
patients reporting groin symptoms, often do not describe their symptoms as being located to
the hip. However, as previously mentioned, the hip and groin regions have never been
precisely anatomically defined and therefore merely reflect individual and cultural
beliefs.[30] However, since a large majority of health care professionals and patients refer to
the medial part of the hip region as the “groin”, it is problematic only labelling this region as
the “hip”.
Hip and/or groin pain does not refer to any specific pathology, and patients with hip and/or
groin pain are therefore a large heterogeneous group of people suffering from a variety of
different pathological conditions. The hip and groin region is a complex anatomical region,
and validated diagnostic tools for differentiation of musculoskeletal diagnoses in this region
is lacking.[35-38] Many patients with hip and/or groin pain often seem to have more than
one diagnosis or clinical entity,[31,32] however, their symptoms, activity limitations and
participation restrictions are often very similar.
The term longstanding groin pain has previously been used in the literature,[39] but no
general consensus on this definition exists. In a recent systematic review, on the effects of
treatments for longstanding groin pain, longstanding groin pain was defined as groin pain of
more than 6 weeks duration.[3]
Outcome measures used in intervention studies involving patients with
longstanding hip and/or groin pain
Several systematic reviews evaluating the efficacy of different treatment modalities for
patients with hip and/or groin disability, exist.[3,15-19] Numerous types of outcomes are
evaluated in the individual studies. Symptoms, pain, muscle strength, return to sporting
activity, and patient satisfaction (with treatment) are the most common outcomes measures
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