I’m a bit confused about the terms ‘full thickness tear’ and ‘retracted’ (ie the muscle/tendon is completely in two pieces no longer touching) with respects to shoulder cuffs. I’ve seen some articles use them interchangeably while others indicate you can have full thickness non-retracted and full thickness retracted. So if they are different, what exactly does full thickness mean if the tendon is still able to hold together? Does it mean just one vertical chunk has been torn apart all the way through but there are still adjacent fibers in tact?
Imagine a thick rubber band that has tension on it. If you took a knife and made a small slice this is a tear or perforation. If you made a slice halfway through, so vertically there is separation, but not all the way through, this is a full thickness tear. If you finished the cut all the way through it would retract to its points of tension. So yes a full thickness perforation or tear is a complete tear vertically from top to bottom, but the band is still connected.