Orthopedic surgery statistics show how musculoskeletal care spans new problems, chronic conditions, follow-up visits, imaging, physical therapy, and joint replacement. The figures below describe U.S. office-based care in 2010, 2014, 2015–2016, and 2018, alongside American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) data covering procedures through 2024. These are measurements from different sources and periods, so they should not be treated as a single continuous trend.
Contents
- Office visits and patient age
- Why patients visit orthopedic surgeons
- Payment sources and care delivered
- Common symptoms, tests, and services
- Joint replacement registry scale
- Recovery, length of stay, and robotics
- Patient-reported outcomes and revision data
Office visits and patient age
The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) estimated 63 million visits to nonfederally employed, office-based physicians specializing in orthopedic surgery in the United States in 2010. More than half of those visits were made by people aged 25–64, while the 65–74 age group had the highest annual visit rate. These figures describe office visits, not the number of unique patients or the number of operations performed. NAMCS 2010 orthopedic surgery fact sheet
The CDC NAMCS orthopedic surgery fact sheet estimated 56 million office visits in 2015. Again, more than one-half of visits were by people aged 25–64. The age statement is a distribution of visits; it does not mean that every person in that age range had an orthopedic condition or required surgery. CDC NAMCS 2015 orthopedic surgery fact sheet
For 2015–2016, the estimated annual volume was 43 million visits to nonfederally employed, office-based orthopedic surgeons in the United States. Because this is a two-year period reported as an annual estimate, it is not directly interchangeable with the single-year estimates for 2010 or 2015. CDC NAMCS 2015–16 orthopedic surgery fact sheet
The 2014 NAMCS national summary tables recorded 50,406 thousand orthopedic surgery office visits, equivalent to about 50.406 million visits as reported in that table. The visit rate was 16.1 per 1,000 persons. The same tables reported an average waiting time of 5.7 minutes and an average direct-care time of 16.1 minutes; the direct-care figure is marked with a question mark in the supplied source record and should therefore be read cautiously. CDC NAMCS 2014 national summary tables
| NAMCS measure | Reported figure | Period or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Orthopedic surgery office visits | 63 million | U.S., 2010 estimate |
| Orthopedic surgery office visits | 56 million | U.S., 2015 estimate |
| Annual orthopedic surgery office visits | 43 million | U.S., 2015–2016 estimate |
| Office-visit rate | 16.1 per 1,000 persons | U.S., 2014 table |
Why patients visit orthopedic surgeons
The reasons for orthopedic office care include both new complaints and continuing management. In the 2010 NAMCS orthopedic surgery fact sheet, new problems represented 37% of the major reasons for visits. Pre- or post-surgery/injury follow-up represented 23%, chronic problems managed routinely represented 22%, and chronic problems with a flare-up represented 15%. These categories describe the major reason selected for a visit, rather than a complete diagnosis list. NAMCS 2010 orthopedic surgery fact sheet
The 2015–2016 CDC fact sheet used provider-assessed major reasons and reported a more detailed breakdown. New problems accounted for 38.6% of visits, postsurgery for 20.8%, chronic routine problems for 20.0%, and chronic flare-ups for 12.2%. Presurgery accounted for 3.6%, while preventive care accounted for 2.3%. The labels and measurement period differ from the 2010 categories, so the percentages are best compared as descriptions of each survey period rather than as a precise year-to-year change.
The 2014 national summary tables also separated new and established patient visits. Orthopedic surgery accounted for 27,282 thousand new patient visits, or 4.1% of all new patient visits shown in the table. It accounted for 117,408 thousand established patient visits, or 3.7% of all established patient visits shown in the table. The table reported averages of 54.1 new patient visits per 100 population and 232.9 established patient visits per 100 population for orthopedic surgery; the supplied record marks these two measures with question marks, so they require careful interpretation. CDC NAMCS 2014 national summary tables
Payment sources and care delivered
In 2010, private insurance was the expected payment source for 54% of orthopedic surgery office visits. Medicare accounted for 26%, workers’ compensation for 9%, and Medicaid or CHIP for 6%. These are expected payment-source shares for office visits, not percentages of total national orthopedic spending or procedure costs. NAMCS 2010 orthopedic surgery fact sheet
Medication was provided or prescribed at 49% of orthopedic surgery office visits in 2010. In the 2015–2016 fact sheet, medications were prescribed or continued at 59.9% of visits. The wording differs slightly, and the periods are separate, so the figures should not be interpreted as a controlled comparison of prescribing behavior.
The 2015–2016 CDC data listed ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen-hydrocodone, meloxicam, and acetaminophen-oxycodone among the top five services ordered or provided at orthopedic surgery visits. The fact sheet identifies these as top-five items but does not provide individual percentages for them in the supplied facts. CDC NAMCS 2015–16 orthopedic surgery fact sheet
Common symptoms, tests, and services
The 2015–2016 CDC fact sheet listed knee symptoms, progress visits, postoperative visits, shoulder symptoms, and hip symptoms among the top five principal reasons for orthopedic surgery visits. The list places knee, shoulder, and hip complaints alongside planned follow-up care, illustrating that an orthopedic visit may concern symptoms, recovery monitoring, or both.
The same source listed X-ray, physical therapy, and MRI among the top five procedures or tests ordered or provided. These entries are categories appearing in the top five, not utilization rates. They also do not establish that every patient received imaging or therapy. CDC NAMCS 2015–16 orthopedic surgery fact sheet
The 2018 NAMCS national summary tables reported 9,953 completed patient record forms overall. The weighted participation rate was 44.0%, and the weighted response rate was 40.5%. These are survey-operation measures for the overall table, not orthopedic surgery-specific outcomes or surgery success rates. CDC NAMCS 2018 national summary tables
Joint replacement registry scale
The 2024 AJRR Annual Report analyzed more than 3.7 million procedures performed from 2012 through 2023 across 1,447 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. An AJRR press release reported that the registry surpassed 4 million hip and knee arthroplasty procedures in March 2024. These counts describe registry procedures and participating institutions, not every hip or knee replacement performed in the United States. AAOS AJRR 2024 Annual Report
The 2024 AJRR annual-report highlights specified 3,715,320 valid cases used in the 2023 report. Those valid cases included 1,899,847 total knee arthroplasty procedures and 1,204,324 total hip arthroplasty procedures. The slide deck reported data from 1,447 institutions, including 312 ambulatory surgical centers, and said 4,954 surgeons submitted at least one procedure in 2023. AAOS AJRR 2024 Annual Report highlights
The registry’s audit sample had an overall record-agreement rate of 93.1%, with a median of 98%. AJRR also reported more than 30 publications using AJRR data in 2024. Agreement rates describe data-quality review in the audit sample; they are not clinical success rates. AAOS AJRR 2024 Annual Report highlights
Recovery, length of stay, and robotics
AJRR reported 62,110 ambulatory surgical center procedural cases in 2024, a 70% increase since 2022. The 2023 AJRR report recorded 42,228 ASC procedural cases, described as an 84% increase since 2022. Because the releases use different report years and reported comparisons, the two figures should be retained as source-specific measures rather than combined into a new growth calculation. AAOS AJRR 2024 press release
Approximately 92% of patients were discharged home after elective primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) in the 2024 AJRR report. The share discharged to a skilled nursing facility after revision THA fell to less than 25%. In the 2023 report, about 93% of elective primary THA patients were discharged home, 8% were discharged to skilled nursing facilities, and fewer than 6% of primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients were discharged to skilled nursing facilities. These measures concern specified procedure and discharge groups, not all orthopedic patients. AAOS AJRR 2024 press release; AAOS AJRR 2023 press release
The 2024 AJRR highlights reported that TKA length of stay fell from 2.9 days in 2012 to 1.1 days in 2023. They also reported cementless fixation in 22% of TKA procedures in 2023 and robotics in more than 15.9%. Robotic use in THA increased from 2.1% in 2017 to 6.6% in 2023. The 2023 report separately described robotics in more than 13% of TKA procedures and an increase of more than six-fold across the prior six years. AAOS AJRR 2024 Annual Report highlights; AAOS AJRR 2023 press release
More than 6% of elective primary THA cases used robotic assistance in the 2024 AJRR report. This is consistent in scale with the 6.6% THA figure in the highlights, but the source labels and reporting contexts should be kept distinct.
Patient-reported outcomes and revision data
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) were submitted by 631 of 1,447 AJRR sites by the end of 2023, or 44%. The 2024 press release described PROM-site participation as 27% higher than in the prior 2023 AJRR Annual Report. The 2023 report said 496 participating sites submitted PROMs, a 24% increase versus the previous year. Linked PROM outcome completion rates in the 2024 highlights varied between 24% and 30%. AAOS AJRR 2024 press release; AAOS AJRR 2023 press release; AAOS AJRR 2024 Annual Report highlights
KOOS Jr. data in the 2023 AJRR report showed that 86% of patients achieved a meaningful improvement after TKA. KOOS Jr. is a patient-reported knee outcome measure; the figure is not a claim that 86% of all knee-replacement patients nationwide experience the same result. AAOS AJRR 2023 press release
For cemented knee arthroplasty constructs in patients aged 65 and older, the 2024 AJRR highlights said cumulative revision generally ranged between 2% and 3% at 10 years. A specific series increased from 0.83% at 1 year to 2.60% at 10 years. These are cumulative revision measures for the stated construct and age group, not the risk for every orthopedic operation.
The 2025 AJRR supplement preview analyzed 101,468 unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) cases performed between 2012 and 2024. UKA accounted for less than 5% of knee replacement procedures since 2015, and 93% of UKA procedures were performed by surgeons who completed 15 or fewer UKA procedures annually. These findings concern UKA within the AJRR data and should not be generalized to all knee surgery. AAOS AJRR 2025 supplement preview