Lessons from atypical groin pain: presentation and treatment of a schwannoma

A 16-year-old boy presented with pain in the right knee, groin, and hip after a touch football game. He was initially diagnosed as having a medial collateral ligament sprain of the right knee and an adductor muscle strain. Despite standard conservative therapy, he had persistent hip pain and migratory pain to the right lower abdomen and flank. A bone scan and abdominal CT scan were negative, but MRI revealed a mass in the cauda equina at L3-4, confirmed with myelography. A benign schwannoma was surgically excised without neurologic sequelae. The patient resumed daily activities 5 weeks after surgery.