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Hip Labral Tear
Labrum is a ring of strong fibro-cartilaginous tissue lining around 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 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 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 non-steroidal 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.
Anterior superior labral tear demonstrating separation between labrum and cartilage (probe seated in the tear)
News and Updates
What’s a Hip Labral Tear?
If you’re an athlete and you’ve started to notice activity-related groin pain – particularly in the crease where the hip meets the leg – you may have a hip labral tear. Now you're probably wondering: What is that?
Repaired Hip Cartilage Restores Golf Swing
Hip Labral tears are common in recreational and competitive golfers due to the twisting forces on the hip during the golf swing. Pro golfers Steve Stricker and Greg Norman have sustained hip labral tears during their careers, and returned to competitive play after having arthroscopic surgery to repair the labrum - the band of cartilage surrounding the hip joint.