Labral Injuries of the Hip: A Review of Diagnosis and Management
Received 15 March 2004; received in revised form 1 October 2004
Objective
To report the current knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of acetabular labral tears.
Methods
A search of the MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Science Direct indexing systems (1966 to September 2004) was conducted using the following key indexing terms: labrum, labral, hip, acetabulum, injury, and treatment. One hundred eighty-six publications were sourced using this methodology and were considered in this review. The literature was sorted according to publication date and relevance.
Results
There is a small amount of literature on the topic of labral lesions. This is particularly true of the use of conservative (manual therapy) methods for the treatment of labral lesions. The literature on surgical diagnosis and management is more mature; however, longer-term follow-up studies are required to conclusively show the benefit of surgical intervention.
Conclusions
Early diagnosis is important as labral tears may be linked to the progression of hip osteoarthritis. Initial treatment consisting of partial weight-bearing may respond if initiated early. Arthroscopy currently represents the gold standard in both the diagnosis and treatment of labral tears. Future research must investigate the long-term outcomes of partial labrectomy, as well as the efficacy of conservative approaches to care (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2005;28:000-000).
aResearch Associate, Macquiare Injury Management Group, Department Health and Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Australia
bSenior Lecturer, Macquarie Injury Management Group, Department Health and Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Australia
cPhD Candidate, Macquarie Injury Management Group, Department Health and Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Australia
Submit requests for reprints to: Henry Pollard, Grad DC, MSportSc, PhD, Department Health & Chiropractic, Macquarie University, C/-: PO Box 448 Cronulla, 2230 Australia
Sources of support: No external funding was provided for this study.
ABSTRACT