Rotator cuff tendonopathies are among the most common disorders encoun
tered in the shoulder. There is an abundance of literature on the oper
ative management of these lesions, but only a small amount devoted to
nonoperative treatment of full-thickness tears of the rotator cuff. Th
e purpose of this article is to review the literature pertaining to fu
ll-thickness tears as well as our results with expectant management.