The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 68, Issue 5 716-719, Copyright © 1986 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Orthopaedic operations in the United States, 1979 through 1983
IM Rutkow
Data from the National Center for Health Statistics were used to analyze
the number of orthopaedic operations that were performed in the United
States in 1979, 1981, and 1983. During the study period there was an
increase of 24 per cent in the total number of orthopaedic procedures.
During the same five-year period, the number of orthopaedic surgeons
increased 28 per cent. Orthopaedic surgeons performed 3,549,000 operations
in 1983, the most common orthopaedic procedure being open reduction and
internal fixation of a fracture (331,000). This was also the eleventh most
common operation performed in this country in 1983. The number of
arthroscopic procedures (260,000) increased 100 per cent during the period
of study, and this procedure was the sixteenth most common operation
performed in the United States. In 1983, orthopaedic operations comprised
19 per cent of the surgery performed in this country. These figures
illustrate the dynamics of the operative practice of orthopaedic surgeons
in the United States. The figures show that the number of orthopaedic
operations has markedly increased over the five-year period, but this
increase is not as great as the increase in the number of orthopaedic
surgeons. Future individual operative workloads of orthopaedists will
decrease if these trends continue.
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