Labral Tears

Hip labrum is a cartilaginous membrane lining the socket of the hip joint. Labrum serves many functions where it acts as shock absorber, lubricates the joint, and distributes the pressure equally. It provides cushioning support to the joint. It also deepens the socket and helps to stabilize the joint. It holds the head of the femur in place and prevents the lateral and vertical movement of the femur head with in the joint. It also deepens the acetabular cavity and offers stability against femoral head translation.

Labral tear of hip may be caused by trauma, femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), hip hypermobility, dysplasia, and degeneration. It is one of the rare conditions and is common in athletes playing sports such as ice hockey, soccer, golf and ballet. Structural abnormalities may also cause hip labral tear. Patients may have hip pain, clicking and locking of joint and restricted range of motion. Patients may also experience dull pain on movement of hip joint that may not subside on rest. Hip labral tear is often diagnosed with symptoms, history, physical examination and radiological techniques. Magnetic resonance arthroscopy may be more appropriate for diagnosing hip labral tear.

Your doctor may start with conservative treatment prescribing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and advising you to rest. These methods may offer symptomatic relief while surgery is required to repair the torn labrum. Your doctor may perform arthroscopic surgery using fiber-optic camera and surgical instruments through the smaller incisions. Depending on the severity of tear, the damaged or torn labrum may be removed or may be sutured.

Labrum repair is a surgical technique recommended for treating labrum tear. Labrum repair can be done using minimally invasive technique, open surgery or grafting. In arthroscopic surgery, the torn labrum will be reattached to the rim of the bone using anchor sutures and the capsules and ligaments will be tightened. In open surgery, the torn labrum will be removed and reattached to the joints using anchor sutures. In grafting technique, the torn labrum will be replaced by the labrum harvested from other bones of the body.