Book excerpt: This manual captures and summarizes the key elements in management of groin pain, including relevant anatomy, etiologies, diagnostic evaluation tools, imaging, detailed pharmacologic options, interventional modalities and options for operative remediation. The manual separately addresses the management of intrinsic groin pain due to primary disease processes and secondary groin pain due to a prior operation. Current practices, trends in the field, treatment approaches and controversies are addressed. While the primary audience of this book will be general surgeons performing hernia operations and pain management specialists to whom they refer, the SAGES Manual of Groin Pain will serve as a stand alone state-of-the-art resource for all providers who deal with this diagnosis, including primary care providers, sports medicine specialists, gynecologists, urologists, orthopedists, neurologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists, radiologists, physical therapists, industry personnel and importantly, patients who suffer from groin pain who have copious access to health information, but without the filtering, expertise and context provided by the contributors to this manual. This volume also uniquely provides its audience with narrative first-person accounts of some of the most common and challenging causes of pain, so that others can learn from their presentation, pitfalls, successes and failures. The expertise compiled in this manual will give the readership a pragmatic foundation to optimize the diagnosis and management of our patients with this challenging problem.