Orthopedic surgery deals with problems of the spine and the extremities. An orthopedic surgeon diagnoses and treats patients whose musculoskeletal problems include arthritis, trauma and congenital deformities. He or she also works with patients who have traumatic and overuse injuries. Using both surgical and non-surgical means, the orthopedic surgeon will treat injuries and degenerative problems of the spine and extremities, such as hands, feet, knees, shoulders and elbows.

Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are spinal infection, spinal discectomy, spinal injury, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, herniated disc, carpal tunnel syndrome, scoliosis, spinal deformity, spinal cord tumors, arthritis, trigger finger, tennis elbow, wrist fractures, ganglion cysts, orthopaedic trauma, brachial plexus injuries, and congenital deformities.

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including disc disease / surgery, hand surgery, hip replacement, back / spine surgery , invasive disc surgery, joint surgery, kyphosis surgery, shoulder arthroscopy and débridement, repair of ankle fracture (bimalleolar type), repair fracture of radius (bone)/ulna, knee replacement, laminectomy, total joint reconstruction (arthroplasty), spine surgery, foot and ankle surgery, lumbar spinal fusion, carpal tunnel release, repair of femoral shaft fracture, repair of rotator cuff tendon, and repair of ankle fracture (fibula).

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including cat scan, mri arthrogram, magnetic resonance imaging (mri), computed axial tomography (ct or cat scan), x-ray, pet scan, bone scans, hip ultrasound, gallium scan, medical photography, and spine ultrasound.

Doctor density varies by specialty and location. The United States has 23,226 practicing orthopedic surgeons. Broken out by state, orthopedic surgery doctor density in Alabama is 331, in Alaska is 65, in Arizona is 404, in Arkansas is 160, in California is 2,513, in Colorado is 448, in Connecticut is 327, in Delaware is 78, in District of Columbia is 110, in Florida is 1,306, in Georgia is 605, in Hawaii is 107, in Idaho is 113, in Illinois is 870, in Indiana is 488, in Iowa is 247, in Kansas is 247, in Kentucky is 302, in Louisiana is 348, in Maine is 139, in Maryland is 516, in Massachusetts is 789, in Michigan is 843, in Minnesota is 533, in Mississippi is 195, in Missouri is 563, in Montana is 79, in Nebraska is 138, in Nevada is 152, in New Hampshire is 156, in New Jersey is 676, in New Mexico is 157, in New York is 1,341, in North Carolina is 645, in North Dakota is 57, in Ohio is 999, in Oklahoma is 272, in Oregon is 304, in Pennsylvania is 1,140, in Rhode Island is 127, in South Carolina is 340, in South Dakota is 81, in Tennessee is 541, in Texas is 1,468, in Utah is 209, in Vermont is 60, in Virginia is 589, in Washington is 591, in West Virginia is 133, in Wisconsin is 510, and in Wyoming is 61.