Acetabular labral tears: Result of arthroscopic partial limbectomy

Acetabular labral tears are a rare but well recognized cause of hip symptom s in young adults. Both clinical and radiographic diagnoses are difficult. The treatment of choice in the past has been either conservative or open ar throtomy. Hip arthroscopy has proved to be an effective tool for both diagn ostic and therapeutic purposes in patients with chronic hip pain refractory to conservative treatment. We reviewed a series of 76 arthroscopic limbect omies. All patients had experienced hip symptoms for more than 6 months. No ne responded to nonsurgical treatment. Results were evaluated with the Harr is Hip Score and with a questionnaire. Fifty-eight cases had a mean 3.5 yea rs follow-up (range, 24 to 61 months). Thirty-nine patients (67.3%) were pl eased with the result of their operation. The remaining 19 (32.7%) were not satisfied. Arthroscopy is an effective noninvasive procedure for the asses sment and treatment of labral lesions. Short-term follow-up shows encouragi ng results.