Isolated Obturator Internus Muscle Strain Injury in a Professional Football Player: A Case Report

Abstract

The present case report concerns an isolated obturator internus muscle strain. The patient, who was a 30-year-old professional, elite-level football player, suffered the injury during the warm-up before a football match. Isolated injuries of the obturator internus are very uncommon and they are extremely rarely reported in the literature. The diagnosis was made clinically, documented by magnetic resonance imaging. The rehabilitation program was conducted conservatively with physical therapy and kinesiotherapy. The patient’s return to full athletic activity took place 2 weeks after the incident.

An Unlikely Cause of Groin Pain: Obturator Externus Tear in a Professional Soccer Player

“…One of the causes of groin pain is damage to the deep muscles of the hip region, including the short lateral rotators tear (piriformis, obturator externus, superior and inferior gemelli, obturador internus, and quadratus femoris) [1][2][3][4]. Nevertheless, isolated traumatic injury of the obturator externus muscle is rarely described with only a few case reports being described in the literature [3,5].…”

“…There is no established mechanism of injury, but there are several described: an unstable position of the pelvis associated with an increase or change of the load on the affected hip, a repetitive loading of the extremity while kicking the ball with the affected or unaffected side, unstable change of direction trying to control the ball, anterior or lateral hip slide in an unstable position, repetitive ball kicking, and kicking the ball in an unstable position [3][4][5]. The musculoskeletal physical examination to differentiate obturator externus injury from other potentially more common injuries is also unspecific, so a high index of clinical suspicion is required [3,6,8].…”

“…Due to the deep location of the muscle, ultrasound cannot reliably identify its injury. Thus, whenever there is suspicion of injury to the deep hip muscles, an MRI has to be performed to identify the location and degree of the injury [3][4][5][6]8]. Correctly recognizing obturator externus injury allows for conservative management (physical therapy and non-steroidal or analgesic medication) and a relatively short recovery period, which can vary from 10 to 21 days [3,6,8].…”