The effects of TECAR therapy on pain, range of motion, strength and subscale of HAGOS questionnaire in athletes with chronic adductor related groin pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 100968565 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1471-2474 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14712474 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Musculoskelet Disord Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2000-

Groin* ; Range of Motion, Articular* ; Muscle Strength*/physiology ; Pain Measurement*; Humans ; Male ; Young Adult ; Treatment Outcome ; Athletes ; Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Chronic Pain/therapy ; Chronic Pain/diagnosis ; Chronic Pain/physiopathology ; Muscle Stretching Exercises ; Pain Management/methods

Introduction: Groin pain is a common issue among athletes. Adductor-related pain is known as the most common cause of groin pain. Although, non-operative treatments have limited efficacy, Capacitive and Resistive Energy Transfer (TECAR), can be used in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. The objective of the present study is to explore the effect of TECAR therapy on pain, range of motion (ROM), strength, and subscales of the "Copenhagen Thigh and Groin Assessment Scale"(HAGOS) questionnaire in athletes suffering from adductor-related groin pain (ARGP).
Methods: This study was a two arm parallel groups randomized sham-controlled superiority trial. A total of 22 male professional athletes (mean age 21.36 years) were randomly assigned to either the real TECAR therapy (n = 11) or sham TECAR therapy (n = 11) group, using block-balanced randomization. Both groups received stretching exercises. Intervention group received 10 sessions of TECAR therapy while, the control group received sham TECAR therapy. Primary outcome was pain that was measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes included ROM, strength, and HAGOS questionnaire subscales. All outcomes were assessed at baseline, after 5 sessions, after 10 sessions, and one month after treatment. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Analysis of Covariance were used to compare between-group mean differences. P-value was set at 0.05. Effect size Cohen's d was also reported. This study took place from September 2022 to August 2023 at the Rehabilitation Clinic at Iran University of Medical Sciences.
Results: A total of 22 male athletes were included (11 in each group), with a mean age of 21.09 years in the TECAR group and 21.63 years in the sham group. TECAR therapy was associated with significant reductions in pain intensity across all evaluation sessions. Specifically, after 5 sessions, there was a large effect size for pain reduction (p = 0.01, Cohen's d = -1.09 [95% CI: -0.195 to -1.987]); after 10 sessions, the effect was even larger (p = 0.001, Cohen's d = -2.153 [95% CI: -1.103 to -3.203]); and at the 1-month follow-up, the pain reduction persisted (p = 0.001, Cohen's d = -1.96 [95% CI: -0.944 to -2.978]). In terms of secondary outcomes, there was a significant improvement in hip adduction ROM at the 1-month follow-up (p = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.908 [95% CI: 0.03 to 1.78]). However, no statistically significant differences were found for other secondary outcomes, with effect sizes ranging from no effect to intermediate.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that TECAR therapy may reduce pain and improve hip adduction range of motion in athletes with adductor-related groin pain.
Trial Registration: This trial was registered at the ( https://www.irct.ir ), (IRCT20220622055250N1) on 18/09/2022.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was conducted in compliance with the ethical principles set forth in the Declaration of Helsinki. The trial was approved by the Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences (Reference number: IR.IUMS.REC.1401.076). The informed consent form was designed in accordance with the standards of this committee. All participants were informed about the nature of the intervention and voluntarily signed the consent form prior to their participation in the study. Consent for publication: The model has given informed consent for the use of the images in the article. The consent form was created based on the template provided on the journal's website. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2025. The Author(s).)

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Keywords: Groin; HAGOS questionnaire; Pain; Range of motion; Strength; TECAR

Date Created: 20250120 Date Completed: 20250121 Latest Revision: 20250129

20250129

PMC11749301

10.1186/s12891-025-08304-9

39833747