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The Athlete’s Hip: Evaluation of Groin Pain

Presented by John Snyder

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The evaluation and rehabilitation of hip injuries in the athlete is a complicated and often misunderstood area of sports medicine. This course will take you through an evidence-based evaluation of groin injuries in this patient population with an emphasis on femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, athletic pubalgia, and less common pathologies (ligamentum teres, extra-articular impingement, etc.). By understanding the current literature and available evaluation techniques, you will be better able to simplify your evaluation and clinical reasoning when an athlete presents with groin pain.

The recommended order to take the courses in The Athlete’s Hip series is as follows:
  • The Athlete’s Hip: Screening & Evaluation of Posterolateral Hip Pain
  • The Athlete’s Hip: Evaluation of Groin Pain
  • The Athlete’s Hip: Treatment of Hip Pathology
  • The Athlete’s Hip: Return to Sport


    • Meet your instructor

    John Snyder

    John Snyder, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, has worked in various outpatient orthopedic and sports medicine environments, and he specializes in the treatment of athletes with hip pain and, more specifically, ice hockey athletes. He earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Youngstown State University and a doctor of physical…

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    Chapters & learning objectives

    Athletic Groin Pain

    1. Athletic Groin Pain

    To further understand the athlete presenting with groin pain, we need to understand what characteristics lead to the initial development of this painful condition. This chapter will take you through risk factors for development, movement characteristics, and objective/subjective findings within this patient population.

    Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome (FAIS)

    2. Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome (FAIS)

    Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) is one of the most complicated, overanalyzed, and misunderstood pathologies seen in the athletic population. This course will take you through the associated patient characteristics, evaluation findings, and radiological criteria needed for an accurate diagnosis. At the end of this chapter you will understand what the subjective history and special testing can tell us, and what it cannot. You will also understand the limitations of radiological studies and why this information in isolation should not drive our intervention strategies.

    FAIS: Concomitant Pathology

    3. FAIS: Concomitant Pathology

    When looking at the athlete with intra-articular hip pathology, we need to understand that there are other structures outside of the acetabular labrum and femoroacetabular joint that may be contributing. This course will take you through the evaluation of some less common, but important pathologies present in the athlete with groin pain. This will include a deep look at micro-instability, acetabular labral pathology, ligamentum teres pathology, and subspine impingement syndrome.

    Athletic Pubalgia

    4. Athletic Pubalgia

    Athletic pubalgia, also known as a sports hernia or chronic adductor-related groin pain, has a bounty of names, but often more confusion than concrete facts when it comes to diagnosis. This complex pathology consists of injury to the hip flexor, inguinal, adductor, and/or pubic regions. Due to the complexity and multiple underlying pathologies, the treating clinician needs a systematic approach to their evaluation process. This course will break down each subset of athletic pubalgia into a thorough evaluation in order to rule out intra-articular pathology and rule in the specific musculotendinous tissue involved.

    Anterior Nerve Entrapment Syndromes

    5. Anterior Nerve Entrapment Syndromes

    When it comes to groin pain, we cannot forget about contributions from neurovascular structures. This chapter will take you through the subjective findings and special testing behind femoral nerve and obturator nerve pathology in the athlete presenting with groin pain.