Publication date: Nov 01, 2026
Both arthroscopic and open surgical shoulder procedures are effective when nonoperative treatment of shoulder disorders fails. Understanding how utilization and reimbursement for these procedures have evolved is essential for informing health-care policy. A retrospective analysis was performed using Medicare data to extract utilization and reimbursement data for Current Procedural Terminology from 2005 to 2024 regarding arthroscopic and open shoulder surgeries. Arthroscopic procedures included diagnostic shoulder arthroscopy, arthroscopic rotator cuff (RTC) repair, biceps tenodesis, labral repair/capsulorrhaphy, superior labrum anterior-posterior repair, arthroscopy with limited dcE9bridement, arthroscopy with extensive dcE9bridement, subacromial decompression, and distal clavicle excision. Open procedures included open RTC repair for acute tears, RTC repair for chronic tears, complete RTC avulsion reconstruction, biceps tenodesis, anterior capsulorrhaphy, acromioplasty, and distal clavicle excision. Reimbursement values were adjusted for inflation. Procedure volumes were normalized to Medicare enrollment. Temporal trends in utilization and reimbursement were assessed using the two-tailed Mann-Kendall trend test. From 2005 to 2024, over 9 million shoulder procedures were performed for the selected Current Procedural Terminology codes. Overall normalized utilization demonstrated a significant decline (τ = -0. 4, P
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Biceps | Arthroscopic capsulorrhaphy |
| Medicare | Biceps tenodesis |
| Surgery | Distal clavicle excision |
| Tenodesis | Rotator cuff repair |
| Shoulder surgery trends | |
| Subacromial decompression |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | included |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 pandemic |