What is aComplex macerated tear of the glenoid labrum?

Answer 1

An injury, implied not to be acute (i.e. is old), of the shoulder...more specifically, the labrum is a cartilaginous (not bone, like the front of the nose) structure that helps the glenoid (a part of the scapula that forms the medial/inside bony shoulder joint) hold the humerus (upper arm bone) in place. To use the term macerated implies chonic wear and tear of the labrum with a loss of its normal shape, usually as a result of osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint (loss of the joint cartilage between the humerus and glenoid). A labral tear is a more discrete and definable injury that can be graded as to its severity, more than can be discussed here. If complex it means not simple and linear...if complex and macerated, this implies that the tear is a result of chronic degenerative change, with a loss of the normal labral morphology (shape) and a more definable tear that may or may not cause symptoms. These types of tear/degeration are very common in older patients, and often not symptomatic (or possibly, are not symptomatic because the patient stops the activity that caused the degeration)