Classic Papers in General Orthopaedics

Pool built 2026-10-20 · All specialties

These are the 100 most-cited papers published in the General Orthopaedics journals, ranked by lifetime citations (via OpenAlex; retracted papers excluded). The daily digest draws its classic slot from this pool — subscribe to get one with your new articles, or browse the General Orthopaedics archive.

1. Projections of Primary and Revision Hip and Knee Arthroplasty in the United States from 2005 to 2030

   Steven Michael Kurtz, Kevin L. Ong, Edmund Lau et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2007 · cited 8,705 times

2. Traumatic Arthritis of the Hip after Dislocation and Acetabular Fractures

   William Hamilton Harris — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1969 · cited 5,642 times

3. A Clinical Method of Functional Assessment of the Shoulder

   Christopher R. Constant, A. H. G. Murley — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1987 · cited 5,314 times

4. Rationale, of The Knee Society Clinical Rating System

   John N. Insall, Lawrence D. Dorr, Richard D. Scott et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1989 · cited 4,813 times

5. Rating Systems in the Evaluation of Knee Ligament Injuries

   Yelverton Tegner, Jack Lysholm — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1985 · cited 4,602 times

6. Femoroacetabular Impingement

   Reinhold Ganz, Javad Parvizi, Martín Beck et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2003 · cited 3,480 times

7. Prevention of infection in the treatment of one thousand and twenty-five open fractures of long bones

   RB Gustilo, JT Anderson — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1976 · cited 3,309 times

8. Dislocations after total hip-replacement arthroplasties.

   George E. Lewinnek, J L Lewis, Richard R. Tarr et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1978 · cited 2,830 times

9. Ectopic Ossification Following Total Hip Replacement

   Andrew F. Brooker, Jack W. Bowerman, Robert A. Robinson et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1973 · cited 2,803 times

10. Prevention of Infection in the Treatment of One Thousand and Twenty-Five Open Fractures of Long Bones

    Ramon B. Gustilo, John T. Anderson — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2002 · cited 2,789 times

11. Abnormal magnetic-resonance scans of the cervical spine in asymptomatic subjects. A prospective investigation.

    Scott D. Boden, Philip R. McCowin, D O Davis et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1990 · cited 2,708 times

12. Patient Satisfaction after Total Knee Arthroplasty: Who is Satisfied and Who is Not?

    Robert B. Bourne, Bert M. Chesworth, Aileen M. Davis et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2009 · cited 2,571 times

13. A System for the Surgical Staging of Musculoskeletal Sarcoma

    William F. Enneking, Suzanne S. Spanier, Mark A. Goodman — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1980 · cited 2,511 times

14. A System for the Functional Evaluation of Reconstructive Procedures After Surgical Treatment of Tumors of the Musculoskeletal System

    William F. Enneking, William Dunham, Mark C. Gebhardt et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1993 · cited 2,383 times

15. Fatty Muscle Degeneration in Cuff Ruptures

    Daniel Goutallier, J.-M. Postel, Jacques Bernageau et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1994 · cited 2,244 times

16. Projected Volume of Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty in the U.S., 2014 to 2030

    Matthew Sloan, Ajay Premkumar, Neil Perry Sheth — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2018 · cited 2,160 times

17. The Tension-Stress Effect on the Genesis and Growth of Tissues

    Gavriil A. Ilizarov — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1989 · cited 2,150 times

18. The Outcome and Repair Integrity of Completely Arthroscopically Repaired Large and Massive Rotator Cuff Tears

    Leesa M. Galatz, Craig M. Ball, Sharlene A. Teefey et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2004 · cited 2,146 times

19. Abnormal magnetic-resonance scans of the lumbar spine in asymptomatic subjects. A prospective investigation.

    Scott D. Boden, D O Davis, Thomas S. Dina et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1990 · cited 2,116 times

20. Anterior Acromioplasty for the Chronic Impingement Syndrome in the Shoulder

    Charles Sumner Neer — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1972 · cited 2,090 times

21. Calcium Phosphate Ceramics as Hard Tissue Prosthetics

    Michael Jarcho — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1981 · cited 2,015 times

22. The compressive behavior of bone as a two-phase porous structure

    Dennis R. Professor Carter, Wilson C. Hayes — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1977 · cited 1,999 times

23. Properties of Osteoconductive Biomaterials: Calcium Phosphates

    Racquel Zapanta LeGeros — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2002 · cited 1,987 times

24. Biochemical and Metabolic Abnormalities in Articular Cartilage from Osteo-Arthritic Human Hips

    Henry J. Mankin, Howard Dorfman, Louis Lippiello et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1971 · cited 1,970 times

25. The Knee Society Total Knee Arthroplasty Roentgenographic Evaluation and Scoring System

    F C Ewald — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1989 · cited 1,961 times

26. Displaced Proximal Humeral Fractures

    Charles Sumner Neer — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1970 · cited 1,944 times

27. New Definition for Periprosthetic Joint Infection: From the Workgroup of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society

    Javad Parvizi, Benjamin M. Zmistowski, Elie F. Berbari et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2011 · cited 1,931 times

28. A self-administered questionnaire for the assessment of severity of symptoms and functional status in carpal tunnel syndrome.

    Douglas W. Levine, B P Simmons, Mark J. Koris et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1993 · cited 1,927 times

29. The Treatment of Certain Cervical-Spine Disorders by Anterior Removal of the Intervertebral Disc and Interbody Fusion

    George W. Smith, Robert A. Robinson — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1958 · cited 1,864 times

30. Health-Related Quality of Life in Total Hip and Total Knee Arthroplasty

    Olivier Ethgen, Olivier Bruyère, Florent F. Richy et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2004 · cited 1,801 times

31. Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

    Lawrence G. Lenke, Randal R. Betz, Jürgen Harms et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2001 · cited 1,749 times

32. The Epidemiology of Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty in the United States

    Kevin John Bozic, Steven Michael Kurtz, Edmund Lau et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2009 · cited 1,730 times

33. Injuries Involving the Epiphyseal Plate

    Robert B. Salter, William R. Harris — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1963 · cited 1,726 times

34. Prevalence of Total Hip and Knee Replacement in the United States

    Hilal Maradit Kremers, Dirk R. Larson, Cynthia S. Crowson et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2015 · cited 1,724 times

35. Radiculopathy and Myelopathy at Segments Adjacent to the Site of a Previous Anterior Cervical Arthrodesis*

    Alan S. Hilibrand, Gregory D. Carlson, Mark A. Palumbo et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1999 · cited 1,680 times

36. Functional Results of Hip Arthroplasty With Acrylic Prosthesis

    R Merle D'aubigne, Michel Postel — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1954 · cited 1,653 times

37. Lumbar Disc Disorders and Low-Back Pain: Socioeconomic Factors and Consequences

    Jeffrey Neil Katz — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2006 · cited 1,650 times

38. The Etiology of Osteoarthritis of the Hip

    Reinhold Ganz, Michael Leunig, Katharina Leunig-Ganz et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2008 · cited 1,619 times

39. Mesenchymal cell-based repair of large, full-thickness defects of articular cartilage.

    Shigeyuki Wakitani, Tatsuhiko Goto, S J Pineda et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1994 · cited 1,605 times

40. Impingement Lesions

    Charles Sumner Neer — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1983 · cited 1,566 times

41. Regulation of bone formation by applied dynamic loads.

    Clinton T. Rubin, Lance E. Lanyon — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1984 · cited 1,559 times

42. Radiological Demarcation of Cemented Sockets in Total Hip Replacement

    Jesse G. Delee, John Charnley — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1976 · cited 1,558 times

43. Complications of Iliac Crest Bone Graft Harvesting

    Edward D. Arrington, William James Smith, Henry G. Chambers et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1996 · cited 1,547 times

44. Development of the QuickDASH

    Dorcas Beaton, James Gardner Wright, Jeffrey Neil Katz — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2005 · cited 1,524 times

45. Biomechanical analysis of human ligament grafts used in knee-ligament repairs and reconstructions.

    F R Noyes, David Lee Butler, Edward S. Grood et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1984 · cited 1,524 times

46. Future Young Patient Demand for Primary and Revision Joint Replacement: National Projections from 2010 to 2030

    Steven Michael Kurtz, Edmund Lau, Kevin L. Ong et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2009 · cited 1,505 times

47. Problems, Obstacles, and Complications of Limb Lengthening by the Ilizarov Technique

    Dror Paley — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1990 · cited 1,503 times

48. Giant-cell tumor of bone.

    Mario Campanacci, Nicola Baldini, Stefano Boriani et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1987 · cited 1,492 times

49. The Cruciate Ligaments of the Knee Joint

    F G Girgis, John L. Marshall, A R S Al. MONA JEM — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1975 · cited 1,491 times

50. Histopathological changes preceding spontaneous rupture of a tendon. A controlled study of 891 patients.

    Pekka Kannus, László Józsa — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1991 · cited 1,470 times

51. Roentgenographic Assessment of the Biologic Fixation of Porous-Surfaced Femoral Components

    Charles A. Engh, P. Massin, Kathleen E. Suthers — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1990 · cited 1,467 times

52. Two- to 9-Year Outcome After Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation of the Knee

    Lars Peterson, Thomas Minas, Mats Brittberg et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2000 · cited 1,463 times

53. The value of the tip-apex distance in predicting failure of fixation of peritrochanteric fractures of the hip.

    Michael R. Baumgaertner, Stephen L. Curtin, Dieter M. Lindskog et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1995 · cited 1,461 times

54. Classifications in Brief: Kellgren-Lawrence Classification of Osteoarthritis

    Mark D. Kohn, Adam A. Sassoon, Navin D. Fernando — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2016 · cited 1,461 times

55. Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies

    Letha Y. Griffin, Julie A. Agel, Marjorie J. Albohm et al. — J Am Acad Orthop Surg · 2000 · cited 1,459 times

56. The Results of Repair of Massive Tears of the Rotator Cuff*†

    Christian Gerber, Bruno Fuchs, Juerg Hodler — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2000 · cited 1,422 times

57. Observations on the Function of the Shoulder Joint

    Verne T. Inman, John B. Saunders, Leroy C. Abbott — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1944 · cited 1,403 times

58. A biomechanical study of normal functional elbow motion.

    B.F. Morrey, Linda J. Askew, Edmund Y.S. Chao — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1981 · cited 1,394 times

59. Periprosthetic Joint Infection: The Incidence, Timing, and Predisposing Factors

    Luis Fernando Pulido, Elie S Ghanem, Ashish Joshi et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2008 · cited 1,366 times

60. Intra-articular fractures of the distal end of the radius in young adults.

    J L Knirk, Jesse Bernard Jupiter — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1986 · cited 1,361 times

61. Fractures of the Odontoid Process of the Axis

    Lewis D. Anderson, RICHARD T. DʼALONZO — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1974 · cited 1,357 times

62. Why Are Total Knee Arthroplasties Failing Today?

    Peter F. Sharkey, William James Hozack, Richard H. Rothman et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2002 · cited 1,355 times

63. Prevalence of Primary and Revision Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty in the United States From 1990 Through 2002

    Steven Michael Kurtz, Fionna Mowat, Kevin Ong et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2005 · cited 1,347 times

64. Evaluation of Cartilage Injuries and Repair

    Mats Brittberg, Carl S. Winalski — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2003 · cited 1,342 times

65. A New Periacetabular Osteotomy for the Treatment of Hip Dysplasias Technique and Preliminary Results

    Reinhold Ganz, Kaj Klaue, Tho Son Vinh et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1988 · cited 1,321 times

66. The Critical Size Defect as an Experimental Model for Craniomandibulofacial Nonunions

    John P. Schmitz, Jeffrey O. Hollinger — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1986 · cited 1,319 times

67. Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 for Treatment of Open Tibial Fractures

    Shunmugam Govender, Cristina Csimma, Harry K. Genant et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2002 · cited 1,306 times

68. The Major Determinants in Normal and Pathological Gait

    J. B. dec. M. Saunders, Verne T. Inman, Howard D. Eberhart — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1953 · cited 1,301 times

69. Introducing Levels of Evidence to the Journal

    James Gardner Wright, Marc F. Swiontkowski, James D. Heckman — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2003 · cited 1,298 times

70. Total hip replacement in congenital dislocation and dysplasia of the hip.

    John F. Crowe, V J Mani, Chitranjan S. Ranawat — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1979 · cited 1,282 times

71. Current Concepts Review - Acetabular and Femoral Anteversion

    Dietrich Tönnis, Achim Heinecke — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1999 · cited 1,279 times

72. Displaced Proximal Humeral Fractures

    Charles Sumner Neer — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1970 · cited 1,278 times

73. The Cell and Molecular Biology of Fracture Healing

    Thomas A. Einhorn — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1998 · cited 1,278 times

74. Ligamentous restraints to anterior-posterior drawer in the human knee. A biomechanical study.

    David L. Butler, F R Noyes, Edward S. Grood — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1980 · cited 1,272 times

75. The Bankart procedure

    Carter R. Rowe, D Patel, WW Southmayd — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1978 · cited 1,269 times

76. The Tension-Stress Effect on the Genesis and Growth of Tissues

    Gavriil A. Ilizarov — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1989 · cited 1,267 times

77. Repairs of the rotator cuff. Correlation of functional results with integrity of the cuff.

    Douglas T. Harryman, Laurence A. Mack, K Y Wang et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1991 · cited 1,259 times

78. Arthroscopic Repair of Full-Thickness Tears of the Supraspinatus: Does the Tendon Really Heal?

    Pascal Boileau — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2005 · cited 1,253 times

79. Cell origin and differentiation in the repair of full-thickness defects of articular cartilage.

    Frederic Shapiro, S Koide, Melvin J. Glimcher — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1993 · cited 1,253 times

80. The Epidemiology of Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty in the United States

    Kevin John Bozic, Steven Michael Kurtz, Edmund Lau et al. — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2009 · cited 1,249 times

81. Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation Compared with Microfracture in the Knee

    Gunnar Knutsen, Lars Engebretsen, Tom Clement Ludvigsen et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2004 · cited 1,248 times

82. Microfracture: Surgical Technique and Rehabilitation to Treat Chondral Defects

    J. Richard Steadman, William G. Rodkey, Juan J. Rodrigo — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 2001 · cited 1,231 times

83. The response of articular cartilage to mechanical injury.

    Henry J. Mankin — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1982 · cited 1,223 times

84. Clinical Application of the Tension-Stress Effect for Limb Lengthening

    Gavriil A. Ilizarov — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1990 · cited 1,218 times

85. The Relationship Between Stress Shielding and Bone Resorption Around Total Hip Stems and the Effects of Flexible Materials

    Rik Huiskes, Harrie Weinans, Bert van Rietbergen — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1992 · cited 1,215 times

86. Metastatic Disease in Long Bones A Proposed Scoring System for Diagnosing Impending Pathologic Fractures

    Hilton Mirels — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1989 · cited 1,215 times

87. A Systematic Approach to the Plain Radiographic Evaluation of the Young Adult Hip

    John C. F. Clohisy, John C. Carlisle, Paul E. Beaulé et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2008 · cited 1,213 times

88. Validation of Digital Visual Analog Scale Pain Scoring With a Traditional Paper-based Visual Analog Scale in Adults

    Domenica A. Delgado, Bradley S. Lambert, Nickolas Boutris et al. — J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev · 2018 · cited 1,195 times

89. Non-traumatic avascular necrosis of the femoral head.

    Michael A. Mont, David S. Hungerford — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1995 · cited 1,194 times

90. Metal-on-Metal Bearings and Hypersensitivity in Patients With Artificial Hip Joints

    Hans Georg Willert, Gottfried Hans Buchhorn, Afshin Fayyazi et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2005 · cited 1,193 times

91. Dislocations after total hip arthroplasty.

    Raymund Woo, B.F. Morrey — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1982 · cited 1,190 times

92. Recent experience in total shoulder replacement.

    Charles Sumner Neer, K. C. Watson, F J Stanton — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1982 · cited 1,189 times

93. Observations on the Effect of Movement on Bone Ingrowth into Porous-Surfaced Implants

    Robert M. Pilliar, J M Lee, C. Maniatopoulos — Clin Orthop Relat Res · 1986 · cited 1,185 times

94. The Carpal-Tunnel Syndrome

    George S. Phalen — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1966 · cited 1,177 times

95. Walking Patterns of Normal Men

    M. Pat Murray, A. Bernard Drought, Ross C. Kory — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1964 · cited 1,173 times

96. Inferior capsular shift for involuntary inferior and multidirectional instability of the shoulder. A preliminary report.

    Charles Sumner Neer, Craig R. Foster — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1980 · cited 1,165 times

97. Fractures of the Acetabulum

    Joel M. Matta — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1996 · cited 1,159 times

98. Changes in Trabecular Pattern of the Upper End of the Femur as an Index of Osteoporosis

    Manmohan Singh, A. R. Nagrath, PS Maini — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1970 · cited 1,153 times

99. Outlines for the study of scoliosis

    Cobb, J. L. Cobb, John R. Cobb et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1948 · cited 1,150 times

100. Abnormal findings on magnetic resonance images of asymptomatic shoulders.

     Jerry S. Sher, John William Uribe, Alejandro Posada et al. — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 1995 · cited 1,139 times

Home  ·  Archive  ·  Subscribe  ·  FAQ

© 2026 The Reduction