Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate in current literature the prevalence of asymptomatic adductor and pubic abnormalities on MRI and ultrasound. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was carried out using PubMed to identify all studies reporting asymptomatic pubic- and adductor-related findings on MRI and/or ultrasound. All types of studies were eligible for inclusion, except case reports. Studies with an asymptomatic cohort, or where at least a part of the study population was asymptomatic, were included. Results: Thirteen studies were included. Two articles describe only asymptomatic adductor abnormalities, six articles only asymptomatic pubic abnormalities. Five articles describe both adductor and pubic abnormalities. All studies were conducted with MRI. Only one of the included articles describes asymptomatic groin findings on ultrasound. Conclusions: Asymptomatic adductor and pubic abnormalities on MRI are frequently present but vary greatly between selected studies. No exact conclusions can be drawn about the prevalence of asymptomatic adductor or pubic findings on MRI due to high heterogeneity between studies. Furthermore, the one article about ultrasound was not enough to draw conclusions for ultrasound findings. It is nonetheless clear that clinicians should be careful to make diagnoses purely based on radiologic findings. A thorough clinical examination and individual interpretation conducted by the clinician remains indispensable.
Keywords: MRI; adductor; asymptomatic; bone edema; groin; imaging; osteitis; pubis; tendinosis; ultrasound.