Adductor longus tenotomy in a population of football players affected by adductor-related groin pain syndrome

Adductor-related groin pain syndrome (ARGPS) is a common overuse injury encountered in sports requiring quick accelerations and decelerations, changes of direction and kicking. If conservative treatment fails, ARGPS can be surgically treated with adductor longus tenotomy (ALT). Four types of ALT are described in literature: two are different types of partial tenotomy (PT1 and PT2) and two are two different types of total tenotomy (TT1 and TT2). The aim of this study was to compare these four different types of ALT in athletic populations affected by ARGPS. In this retrospective study (level of evidence IV), four study groups of soccer players at different athletic levels were considered. G1 grouped 12 male patients subjected to partial ALT (PT1), G2 included 13 male patients subjected to partial ALT with a surgical technique (PT2) different to that employed in G1, G3 grouped 10 male patients subjected to total ALT (TT1) and G4 included 10 male patients subjected to total ALT with a different surgical technique (TT2) to G3. The percentage of subjects who resumed sporting activities and the return to play (RTP) times were respectively 83% and 7.5±3.8 months, 100% and 4.0±0.4 months, 100% and 3.1±0.5 months, 100% and 2.4±0.4 months for the study groups G1, G2, G3 and G4. The percentage of subjects that returned to sport was significantly lower (P<0.05) in G1 while the time for RTP was significantly lower (P<0.05) in G4. Of all the surgical techniques employed in ALT, the TT2 surgical technique entails a lower complication rate and allows for the quickest RTP in athletic populations.