Regenerative Injection Therapy (Prolotherapy) for Hip Labrum Lesions: Rationale and Retrospective Study

Background: Acetabular labral tear is a debilitating condition for which there are few effective non-surgical treatment options. A number of studies in humans and in animal models suggest that the labrum may have a capacity for spontaneous healing, and that therapies that seek to exploit and facilitate this process may be beneficial. Regenerative injection therapies have shown promise in the treatment of several musculoskeletal disorders, but have not previously been applied to labral tear. Methods: We present an initial case series of 19 patients with labral tear that were treated in our clinic with intra-articular injections of hypertonic dextrose. Patient-reported assessments were collected by questionnaire between 1 and 60 months post-treatment (mean = 12 months). Results: All patients reported improvements in pain relief and functionality. Patients reported complete relief of 54% of recorded symptoms. Improvements did not show dependence on the time between treatment and follow-up. No adverse events were reported. Conclusions: Regenerative injection therapy (prolotherapy) for acetabular labral tear appears to be a safe and potentially efficacious procedure that merits further investigation as a non-surgical option.