Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (also spelled orthopedics, see below) is the branch of surgery concerned with acute, chronic, traumatic, and overuse injuries and other disorders of the usculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons address most musculoskeletal ailments including arthritis, trauma and congenital deformities using both surgical and non-surgical means.
Practice
Orthopedic surgeons address most musculoskeletal ailments including arthritis, trauma and congenital deformities using both surgical and non-surgical means. According to applications for board certification from 1999 to 2003, the top 25 most common procedures (in order) performed by orthopedic surgeons are as follows:
- Knee arthroscopy and meniscectomy
- Shoulder arthroscopy and decompression
- Carpal tunnel release
- Knee arthroscopy and chondroplasty
- Removal of support implant
- Knee arthroscopy and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
- Knee replacement
- Repair of femoral neck fracture
- Repair of trochanteric fracture
- Debridement of skin/muscle/bone/fracture
- Knee arthroscopy repair of both menisci
- Hip replacement
- Shoulder arthroscopy/distal clavicle excision
- Repair of rotator cuff tendon
- Repair fracture of radius (bone)/ulna
- Laminectomy
- Repair of ankle fracture (bimalleolar type)
- Shoulder arthroscopy and débridement
- Lumbar spinal fusion
- Repair fracture of the distal part of radius
- Low back intervertebral disc surgery
- Incise finger tendon sheath
- Repair of ankle fracture (fibula)
- Repair of femoral shaft fracture
Repair of Trochanteric fracture
Training
Orthopedic surgeons (also known as orthopedists) complete a minimum of 10 years of postsecondary education and clinical training. In the majority of cases this training includes obtaining an undergraduate degree (a few medical schools will admit students with as little as two years of undergraduate education), an allopathic degree or osteopathic degree (4 years), and then completing a five-year residency in orthopedic surgery. The five-year residency consists of one year of general surgery training followed by four years of training in orthopedic surgery.
Many orthopedic surgeons elect to do further subspecialty training in programs known as 'fellowships' after completing their residency training. Fellowship training in an orthopedic subspecialty is typically one year in duration (sometimes two) and usually has a research component involved with the clinical and operative training. Examples of orthopedic subspecialty training in the US are:
- Hand surgery (also performed by Plastic Surgeons)
- Shoulder and elbow surgery
- Total joint reconstruction (arthroplasty)
- Pediatric orthopedics
- Foot and ankle surgery (Also performed by podiatry)
- Spine surgery (Also performed by neurosurgeons)
- Musculoskeletal oncology
- Surgical sports medicine
- Orthopedic trauma
These are also the nine main sub-specialty areas of orthopedic surgery.
