When EB White, the author of Charlotte's web, said “there is nothing more likely to start disagreement among people or countries than an agreement” he may not have had medical consensus statements in mind, but his words hold true. Keep this in mind when you read the British Hernia Society's 2014 position statement based on the Manchester Consensus Conference: ‘Treatment of the Sportsman's groin’.1 While it is easy to be critical we should give credit where it is due.

Aali Sheen and his coauthors are to be congratulated for their achievement of reaching an agreement in the field of groin injuries. It is a tremendous advance to bring together a coauthor group of surgeons from different countries, who have published different opinions as to aetiology, use differing terminology and advocate different surgical techniques. Their statement does not however signify that the mission to solve the groin's mysteries has been accomplished. As the title of this editorial suggests, we should see this agreement as the first step on a long journey.

Disruptive disruptions?

Inguinal disruption (ID) was agreed on as being the preferred term to use when describing athletes with ‘groin pain predominantly in the groin area near the pubic tubercle’. The term was chosen as it was felt to most accurately reflect the underlying pathology. While I follow the reasoning behind the choice, the effect of adding yet another term into the groin literature to accompany sportsman's hernia, sportsman's groin, Gilmore's groin, etc should be considered. Without placing the injury …