Cam morphology and inguinal pathologies: is there a possible connection?

BACKGROUND: To analyse the prevalences of the cam and pincer morphologies in a cohort of patients with groin pain syndrome caused by inguinal pathologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four patients (40 men and 4 women) who suffered from groin pain syndrome were enrolled in the study. All the patients were radiographically and clinically evaluated following a standardised protocol established by the First Groin Pain Syndrome Italian Consensus Conference on Terminology, Clinical Evaluation and Imaging Assessment in Groin Pain in Athlete. Subsequently, all of the subjects underwent a laparoscopic repair of the posterior inguinal wall. RESULTS: The study demonstrated an association between the cam morphology and inguinal pathologies in 88.6% of the cases (39 subjects). This relationship may be explained by noting that the cam morphology leads to biomechanical stress at the posterior inguinal wall level. CONCLUSIONS: Athletic subjects who present the cam morphology may be considered a population at risk of developing inguinal pathologies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, Observational cross-sectional study.