The frequency of acetabular labral tears and the accompanying pathological conditions in a young asymptomatic population

The mechanism by which tears of the labrum of the acetabulum cause hip pain has been clarified considerably by the use of modern CT and MRI techniques, as well as arthroscopic techniques. The aetiology, anatomy and function of the acetabular labrum, as well as its tears, have been described extensively in the literature in recent years. In addition, the syndrome of femoroacetabular impingement, described by Ganz, has been considered one of the causes of tears both of the labrum and of the articular cartilage of the acetabulum. A large number of studies also suggest that a labral tear may be associated with, and be the precursor of, osteoarthritis. It has thus been shown that arthroscopic debridement or repair of tears of the acetabular labrum, together with the accompanying bony abnormality, constitutes an effective treatment for the hip pain related to these abnormalities.
In a recent study published in the British journal The Bone and Joint an attempt was made to measure the rate of acetabular labral tears in individuals who had no symptoms from the hip. Thus 70 symptomatic adult volunteers with a mean age of 26 years (19 to 41) were studied, recruited in order to undergo magnetic resonance imaging at three Tesla resolution. The group consisted of 47 women and 23 men. A labral tear was observed in 27 volunteers. In 16 of them the tear was an isolated finding, while in the remaining 11 there were also accompanying intra-articular pathological lesions. Five volunteers also showed intra-articular pathology without an accompanying labral tear.
The authors concluded that, given the high rate of pathological appearances of the acetabular labrum in the asymptomatic population, it is essential for the surgeon to confirm that the symptoms of patients with hip pain are due to the labral abnormalities seen on magnetic resonance imaging, particularly when surgery is being planned.