The Sheen Paajanen grOin Recommended Treatment 'SPoRT' score for groin pain

Evaluating groin pain still evades many clinicians at times as they have difficulty determining the cause of pain when no true hernia exists. This study's aim was to evaluate a simple and novel scoring system which is reproducible, to help determine whether conservative measures or surgery is recommended for the management of groin pain attributable to inguinal disruption.

A retrospective analysis of all patients from 2018 to 2020 that underwent surgery or conservative management for inguinal disruption with at least a 1-year follow-up were evaluated. The scoring system is based on MRI and ultrasound imaging as well as clinical findings, with scores given from - 2 to + 2 based on the defined findings listed. A maximum total of four points scored for each assessment was used. Sensitivity and specificity analysis was conducted for each potential score cut off point.

A total of 172 patients were evaluated with 33 patients (19%) undergoing conservative management and 139 patients (81%) undergoing surgery. The median SPoRT score for the surgery group was 2.0 (1.0, 3.0), and - 1.0 (- 3.0, 0.0) in the physiotherapy group which was a significant difference (p < 0.001). An optimal cut off of ≤ 0 for physio and ≥ 1 for surgery was established, yielding a sensitivity of 90.9% (95% CI 75.7%-98.1%), a specificity of 89.2% (95% CI 82.8%-93.8%) and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.936 (95% CI 0.874-0.997).

SPoRT score of ≤ 0 can recommend a patient should undergo conservative measures or physiotherapy as a mainstay of treatment with a score of ≥ 1 recommending surgery. Further validation of the score is necessary.