Dr Khalifa Al Kuwari: “The conference is a platform to further research that will aid the treatment of athletes suffering from groin injuries”. Doha, Qatar (October 24, 2012) – Aspetar hosted the 3rd annual Sports Groin Pain Centre Conference this week entitled ‘Getting into the Groin’. The two-day event took place on October 23 and 24 and featured a range of innovative discussions, workshops and presentations specifically designed to help doctors better examine, diagnose and treat patients with groin injuries. Aspetar Director General, Dr Khalifa Al Kuwari, explained the overarching objective of the conference.

“Groin injuries are common in athletes who play sports that require a lot of running and jumping, and often appear in football players,” he said. “The correct diagnosis of groin pain can be difficult, therefore this conference aims to help doctors to better examine their patients and interpret the findings”.

Twelve international speakers from countries such as Denmark, Spain, Canada and the United Kingdom attended the event. Additionally, a number of Aspetar doctors participated, including Dr Adam Weir, Sports Medicine Physician at Aspetar. The Sports Groin Pain Centre is a highly-specialised within the orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital and was created to help with the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of athletes with groin pain. Commenting on the list of attendees, Dr Weir said,

“We have an incredible panel of guest speakers taking part in the event this year. We will be able to use their knowledge, combined with the knowledge of our experts at Aspetar, to improve the treatment of athletes with groin injuries”.

‘Getting into the Groin’ is hosted by the Aspetar Sports Groin Pain Centre. The department aims to become a world-class referral centre and regularly brings together world leading researchers to provide high quality treatment and innovative, clinically relevant research. In a bid to help reduce incidences, a groin injury prevention programme has been incorporated into the NSMP’s medical examinations and, to date, almost 300 Qatar Stars League (QSL) football players have been screened. The Aspetar Sports Groin Pain Centre has implemented a number of initiatives including a multitude of clinical services and two PhD projects in order to help tackle the injury. The centre also aims to establish a long-term research programme that will include studies on basic risk factors, injury mechanisms and interventions. Aspetar, based in Doha, Qatar, is a world-leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital and the first of its kind in the Middle East. Since 2007 the hospital has provided top-level comprehensive medical treatment to athletes in a state-of-the art facility that sets new standards internationally. In 2009 Aspetar was officially accredited as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence (F-MARC). Aspetar is a member–organisation of Aspire Zone Foundation, Qatar’s innovative sports and healthy lifestyle destination.