Natural History of Fatty Infiltration and Atrophy of the Supraspinatus Muscle in Rotator Cuff Tears

摘要

BackgroundIn some patients nonoperative treatment of a rotator cuff tear is sufficient, while in others it is only the first stage of treatment prior to surgery. Fatty infiltration progresses throughout the nonoperative treatment although it is not known at what point fatty infiltration contributes to poor functional outcomes, absence of healing, or increased rerupture rates.