Squeeze test (adductor)

For: Chronic groin pain with pubic bone oedema (once fracture is excluded)

Long-standing groin pain in athletes with bone marrow oedema (swelling seen on MRI) in the pubic bones at the front of the pelvis.

A weak test on its own

Sensitivity49%

Specificity88%

LR+ (positive)4.2

LR− (negative)0.58

Calculated from the paper's counts for chronic groin pain with pubic bone oedema (Table 1: positive in 18 of 37 with it and 6 of 52 without). The often-quoted LR+ 4.8 is for MRI oedema alone.

Caution: Studied in Australian Rules footballers against chronic groin pain and MRI pubic bone marrow oedema, not today's adductor-related groin pain; the authors warn the specificity should be treated with caution.

What the numbers mean

Positive result: a small shift: a positive result nudges the diagnosis up, but does not settle it.
Negative result: barely informative: a negative result changes little.

Source

Verrall GM, Slavotinek JP, Barnes PG, Fon GT. Description of pain provocation tests used for the diagnosis of sports-related chronic groin pain: relationship of tests to defined clinical (pain and tenderness) and MRI (pubic bone marrow oedema) criteria. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2005;15(1):36–42. Journal article (DOI) · single study

Figures as they will appear in Rule It In, Rule It Out (Trokos, forthcoming). If a newer or better study changes them, this page changes with the book. Figures last updated from the book on 2 October 2026.

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This page gives the published figures. Rule It In, Rule It Out adds how to do this test, what counts as positive, how to read the result, and, where studied, whether combining it with other tests helps.

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