The labrum is a piece of soft tissue that is attached to the rim of the hip socket. It acts as a gasket and forms a suction seal between the femoral head and the hip socket.

The labrum can be torn for many different reasons:

• hip impingement, or pinching of the labrum because of reduced clearance between the ball and socket

• hip instability; causing shear forces across the labrum

• trauma or sports injury, most commonly a hip dislocation or subluxation event