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World-Class Athletes Cared for in Milwaukee

Richard Cattey, M.D., General, Vascular and Laparoscopic Surgeon, Columbia St. Mary’s

Posted: May 1, 2007

If you're an athlete or physically active person, you may have occasional aches and pains. When pain strikes in your lower abdomen or groin, your first thought may be that you've pulled a muscle.

Perhaps what you have isn't a "pull" at all, but a tear. Certain professional athletes, as well as some active "weekend athletes," are susceptible to a sports hernia, also known as athletic pubalgia.

A minimally invasive surgical procedure was developed at Columbia St. Mary’s Milwaukee Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery to treat this condition and get athletes back to their game. With a 94 percent success rate, Olympic competitors and professional athletes from around the world come here for sports hernia repair. There are very few surgeons who perform this procedure.

A sports hernia is caused by repeated trauma to the groin area, resulting in muscle and tendons pulling away from the pubic bone. Sports hernias are common among athletes who participate in sports that involve repetitive twisting and turning while moving, such as soccer, ice hockey, rugby, field hockey, tennis or track.

Sports hernia is one of the most misdiagnosed sports-related injuries mainly because diagnostic tests such as an X-ray and MRI can be normal.

Most athletes with this injury play through pain, taking anti-inflammatory medication or getting electric stimulation or ultrasound treatments. But ultimately, it gets to the point where they can’t practice or play. If they rest, the condition can get better, but as soon as they begin to exercise again they reinjure the scar tissue and the chronic pain starts all over again.

Innovative treatment
Traditional surgery was once the only treatment for this condition. The procedure was invasive and involved a six- or seven-inch-long incision. And the patient was usually forced to be inactive during a 12-week recovery period.

Now, a minimally invasive surgical procedure can get athletes back to their game quicker and with minimal pain during recovery. Three quarter-inch incisions are made to insert precisely designed laparoscopic instruments to see muscle damage and perform the repair. To reinforce the affected area, a patch of mesh-like material is used, held in place with surgical tacks.

Most individuals can expect minimal pain, and can resume normal activity in four or five days, and can do some form of aerobic exercise in two weeks. They can usually start playing their sport between four and six weeks.


Richard Cattey, M.D.
General, Vascular and Laparoscopic Surgeon
Columbia St. Mary’s
414-326-1745

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