If dedicated inguinodynologists already existed and were easily accessed by patients with groin pain, we would have much less of a need for this type of manual. However, as of today, inguinodynology is not yet a specialty, nor do specific inguinodynologists readily exist. In fact, patients with groin pain and chronic groin pain either primarily existing or secondarily existing following a hip or hernia surgical procedure are often lost, mainly because they have no place or physician to turn to with this chief complaint. The Internet is filled with an equal number of myths and facts and is often not helpful with finding patients a specialist. With such an extensive differential diagnosis, the optimal treating physician may be a pain specialist, a physical therapist, a psychologist, a radiologist, a gastroenterologist, a general surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, a urologist, a neurosurgeon, a neurologist, a rehabilitation specialist, a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, a gynecologist, or even a plastic surgeon. The differential diagnosis for groin pain crosses into 15 different specialties, so no wonder patients are lost.

Inguinodynia is the technical term for groin pain, and chronic groin pain is a complex topic. In an attempt to organize this complex disease entity, we set out to gather chapters that covered the entire differential diagnosis of a patient with groin pain. In doing so, we quickly realized that patients could be divided into two broad categories: primary groin pain, or groin pain not related to a prior surgery (this would include pain after sports, a sprain, or overuse during work), and secondary groin pain , or groin pain that began after a surgical procedure (including hernia repairs and orthopedic surgeries). Our chapters are thus divided up as such. That being said, complex systems science tells us that there will not be a single pathway to work up and cure each groin pain patient, and that each patient should expect an individualized outcome.