A Scoping Review of Exercises for Preventing Athletic Groin Pain

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Exercise Science
• Injury Prevention

Background:

• Groin pain is a common injury in multidirectional sports, often occurring during high-intensity movements.
• Current preventive strategies for groin pain are not well-established.
• The Copenhagen Adduction Exercise (CAE) is widely used, but evidence for other interventions is scarce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and summarize exercise-based interventions for preventing groin pain in athletes.
• To assess the prevalence and effectiveness of different exercise programs for groin injury prevention.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, searching PubMed, Web of Science, and PEDro.
• Inclusion of randomized controlled trials and clinical trials published in English (1983-April 2025).
• Data extraction on study design, interventions, and outcomes, with quality assessment using the PEDro scale.

Main Results:

• Nineteen studies met the criteria, with moderate methodological quality (average PEDro score 6.9).
• The Copenhagen Adduction Exercise (CAE) was the most frequently reported intervention (13/19 studies), showing benefits in adductor strength and some injury reduction.
• The Nordic hamstring exercise and other programs like trunk-hip coordination exercises also demonstrated positive effects on strength and injury prevention.

Conclusions:

• The Copenhagen Adduction Exercise (CAE) remains the dominant strategy for groin pain prevention, but its sole use shows limited effectiveness.
• There is a need to develop and investigate novel, multifaceted exercise programs that incorporate coordination and multi-joint movements.
• Further research is essential to establish comprehensive and effective exercise-based strategies for preventing groin pain in athletes.