The labral tissue, or labrum, is a type of soft tissue or cartilage that surrounds the socket of ball-and-socket joints, such as the shoulder and the hip joints. The labrum forms a ring around the edge of the bony socket of the joint and helps to provide stability to the joint by deepening the socket. The labrum may further assist in containing lubricating fluids within the joint, promoting flexibility and motion.
Ball-and-socket joints may become damaged when experiencing high stresses. Often, joint damage may involve tearing of the labral tissue away from the underlying bone. This labral tearing may cause a patient to experience severe pain and give rise to abnormal motion of the ball-and-socket joint. Over time, such abnormal motion may lead to excessive cartilage wear within the joint and arthritis.
In most cases, once the labrum is torn from the bone, surgery is required to repair the damaged labrum. This surgery may involve reattachment of the torn labrum to the bone or attachment of a tissue graft to the damaged portion of the labrum. In either case, it is desirable to reduce the number of surgical implants and/or the number of steps required during surgical repair.