Efficacy of dextrose prolotherapy in elite male kicking-sport athletes with chronic groin pain.

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of simple dextrose prolotherapy in elite kicking-sport athletes with chronic groin pain from osteitis pubis and/or adductor tendinopathy. DESIGN Consecutive case series. SETTING Orthopedic and trauma institute in Argentina. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-two rugby and 2 soccer players with chronic groin pain that prevented full sports participation and who were nonresponsive both to therapy and to a graded reintroduction into sports activity. INTERVENTION Monthly injection of 12.5% dextrose and 0.5% lidocaine into the thigh adductor origins, suprapubic abdominal insertions, and symphysis pubis, depending on palpation tenderness. Injections were given until complete resolution of pain or lack of improvement for 2 consecutive treatments. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Visual analog scale (VAS) for pain with sports and the Nirschl Pain Phase Scale (NPPS), a measure of functional impairment from pain. RESULTS The final data collection point was 6 to 32 months after treatment (mean, 17 mo). A mean of 2.8 treatments were given. The mean reduction in pain during sports, as measured by the VAS, improved from 6.3+/-1.4 to 1.0+/-2.4 ( P <.001), and the mean reduction in NPPS score improved from 5.3+/-0.7 to 0.8+/-1.9 ( P <.001). Twenty of 24 patients had no pain and 22 of 24 were unrestricted with sports at final data collection. CONCLUSIONS Dextrose prolotherapy showed marked efficacy for chronic groin pain in this group of elite rugby and soccer athletes.