Insights into Evolving Trends and Controversies in Orthopaedic Surgery from the ABOS Case Collection System: Data from Current Procedural Terminology-Specific Special Questions, 2022 to 2024

➢ The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) collects sequential Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)-coded surgical case lists both from Candidates for initial certification and from Diplomates participating in Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Collectively, these case lists represent a unique and extensive sampling of orthopaedic surgical practices across the United States. ➢ Because revisions or additions to the CPT system often take many years to reflect changes in surgical practice, in 2022 the ABOS began adding special questions for recorded cases in which the CPT codes alone do not identify potentially new or controversial surgical choices. ➢ The responses are used primarily for the ABOS internal case selection process for oral examination, but the ABOS recognizes that these previously unreported data are also of broad interest to the orthopaedic community. ➢ The data from the ABOS CPT-specific special questions from 2022 to 2024 were collected and analyzed. Responses from both early-career Candidates for initial certification and mid-career MOC Diplomates are compared in this report. They provide insight into both established orthopaedic practices across the United States and evolving trends in surgical choices and education across multiple subspecialties.