Rotator Cuff Tears 🦴 Ubiquitous, Incidental, Misleading
Dr RR Baliga's "Got Knowledge Doc" Podkast
February 18, 20265m 29s
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Show Notes
🦴 Rotator cuff "tears" are nearly universal after age 40.
In a population-based Finnish study (n=602), 99% had ≥1 MRI abnormality — including 96% of asymptomatic shoulders. Even full-thickness tears were usually silent, and adjusted analyses eliminated differences between painful and painless shoulders .
Lesson? After 40, imaging abnormalities are common — causality is not.
Treat function. Treat symptoms. Treat patients — not scans.