In a recent study, doctors and athletic trainers for one college football team collected data on the most common surgical procedures performed on
the team’s players over a 10-year period. From the 2004-2005 through the 2013-2014 seasons, a total of 254 operations were performed on 207 players, averaging 25.4 surgical procedures per year. The majority of the surgeries performed were orthopaedic procedures (92.1%). However, there were multiple non-orthopaedic procedures (7.9%). The most common procedure performed was arthroscopic shoulder labral repair (12.2%). Partial meniscectomy (11.8%), arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (9.4%), and arthroscopic hip labral repair (5.9%) were the other commonly performed procedures. By position, relative to the number of athletes at each position, linebackers (30.5%) and defensive linemen (29.1%) were the most likely to undergo surgery while kickers (6%) were the least likely.
Source: The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016
