Chronic inguinal pain in children.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Surgery
• Pain Management
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• Chronic groin pain in children, including conditions like Sportsman's Hernia, lacks standardized treatment guidelines.
• Literature on managing chronic groin pain in the pediatric population is limited, with a scarcity of randomized controlled trials.
• Existing keywords include Bernhardt-Roth syndrome, Meralgia Paraesthetic, and chronic inguinal pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document the experience of managing chronic groin pain in pediatric patients.
• To evaluate the efficacy of surgical intervention after conservative treatment failure.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case series of 4 pediatric patients (0-18 years) with chronic groin pain.
• Patients underwent surgical management after exhausting conservative treatment options (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for 3-6 months).
• Surgical approaches included anterior (open) and posterior (laparoscopic) techniques.

Main Results:

• Surgical treatment led to successful recovery and return to full activity without pain in all reported cases.
• The study preferred an open surgical approach for pain localized at the pubic tubercle, facilitating nerve release.
• Both anterior and posterior surgical methods demonstrated positive outcomes in managing chronic groin pain.

Conclusions:

• Surgical intervention is a beneficial treatment for children suffering from chronic groin pain.
• The study's experience indicates that surgery is consistently successful in resolving chronic groin pain in pediatric patients.
• Further multicenter studies are recommended to validate these findings and establish standardized management protocols.