Hip Impingement and Labral Tears

The Hip Labrum

The hip labrum is a protective ring of cartilage that is found outside the rim of the socket of your hip joint. The labrum’s role is to hold the top of your femur securely within your hip socket. The labrum assists in shock absorption and stability of the hip. Tears can occur from trauma, impingement, or dysplasia. Symptoms usually present as anterior hip pain, “deep” joint pain or pain within the groin. It is also not uncommon for patients to also present with posterior hip pain. Typically patients will also experience a locking or popping sensation and stiffness with limited range of motion.

Femoroacetabular Impingement

This a condition where both the shape of both the acetabulum (socket) and femur are irregularly shaped. This causes the head of the femur to not fit into the acetabulum properly, subsequently causing damage to the joint. Bone spurs tend to develop along the joint on patients who suffer from FAI. These spurs can cause the hip bones to rub against each other causing a tear of your labrum and breakdown of articular cartilage. Frequently you will hear your physician say you have a "type" of FAI.

Types of FAI

This is found when there is extra bone along the acetabulum. When this occurs, the labrum can be sheared off the acetabulum.

This is caused when the head of the femur is abnormally shaped and cannot rotate freely within the acetabulum, this causes a bump to form along the edge of the femoral head, grinding off labrum.

Both CAM/Pincer impingement.

Treatment

For more information on hip labral tears, hip impingement and their treatment, visit the website of renowned orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Andrew Wolff.