Orthopaedic Surgery Pediatric Sports Medicine: Characterizing Practice Patterns and Subspecialization

Background: Pediatric sports medicine is a new and rapidly growing subspecialty within orthopaedic surgery. However, there is very limited literature on the practice of pediatric sports medicine in North America. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and describe the current practice patterns of orthopaedic surgeons specializing in pediatric sports medicine. Methods: An online survey was distributed to orthopaedic surgeons specializing in pediatric sports medicine through the Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine Society. The purpose of the survey was to characterize (1) surgeon demographics, (2) the breakdown of different joint specialization, and (3) the specific procedures for joints that the surgeons specialize in. Results: Responses from 55 orthopaedic surgeons were collected and analyzed. Most respondents considered pediatric sports medicine as the primary focus of their practice (89.1%, n=49/55). The number of fellowships completed was almost evenly split between either a single fellowship (52.7%, n=29/55) or 2 or more (47.3%, n=26/55). The most common combination of fellowships was pediatric orthopaedics and adult sports medicine (32.7%, n=18/55). Most survey respondents had been in practice for
Source: Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Sports Medicine Source Type: research