Variable Practice Patterns and Variation Among Orthopaedic Surgeons Specializing in Pediatric Sports Medicine

Introduction: Pediatric sports medicine is a growing subspecialty within orthopedic surgery. However, there is very limited literature on the practice of pediatric sports medicine in North America. Purpose: To evaluate and describe the current practice patterns of orthopedic surgeons specializing in pediatric sports medicine via survey of PRiSM (Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine Society) members. Methods: An online survey was distributed to orthopaedic surgeons specializing in pediatric sports medicine through PRiSM in April 2021. The survey was designed to (1) characterize respondent demographics (practice focus on pediatric vs. adult, fellowship training, years in practice, location), (2) characterize the breakdown of different joint specialization, and (3) determine the most common procedures across different joints that the respondent specializes in. Specialization was defined as composing ≥ 25% of a respondent’s practice. Commonly operated joints were defined as composing ≥5% of their practice. Results: Responses from 55 orthopedic surgeons were collected and analyzed. The majority of 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%, 29/55) or two or more (47.3%, 26/55). The most common combination of fellowships was pediatric orthopaedics and adult sports medicine (32.7%, 18/55). The majority of survey respondents have been in practice for