AAOS Now tests your knowledge of orthopaedic trivia. Take a minute and see how well you know your orthopaedic trivia—but don’t peek at the answers!

1. What is the “official” number of orthopaedics?
1. One
2. Three
3. Five
4. Seven
5. Ten
2. This gentleman played varsity baseball and tennis at Long Island University, was the first African-American board-certified orthopaedist in the United States, and served as Chief of Orthopaedics at Howard University.
1. J. Robert Gladden, MD
2. Augustus A. White III, MD
3. E. Anthony Rankin, MD
4. Alvin H. Crawford, MD
3. Rank the following orthopaedic procedures from the most frequently done to the least frequently done.
1. Total hip replacement
2. Total knee replacement
3. Total shoulder replacement
4. Knee arthroscopy
5. Shoulder arthroscopy
4. This prominent Southern orthopaedic surgeon was a pediatrician for several years before deciding to pursue a career in orthopaedics.
1. Wood Lovell, MD
2. Dean MacEwen, MD
3. Willis Campbell, MD
4. M.O. Tachjdian, MD
5. Mercer Rang, MD
5. Many bones were named for familiar items they resembled. The phalanges were thought to resemble which of the following?
1. Soldiers
2. Reeds
3. Pins
4. Flutes

If you have orthopaedic trivia you think would be of interest to AAOS Now readers, email it to aaoscomm@aaos.org; fax to 847-823-8033; or mail to Orthopaedic Trivia — AAOS Now, 6300 N. River Rd., Rosemont, Ill. 60018-4262.

Answers
1–B. Three is the “official” number of orthopaedics because so many terms involve it, such as triple arthrodesis, arthroscopic triangulation, tri-flange nail, triplane fracture, triradiate cartilage, triple innominate osteotomy, and three planes in space form a joint.

2–A. Dr. Gladden’s life was filled with “firsts.” He was the first full-time orthopaedic resident at Howard University; the first African American certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (1949); the first of his race elected to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; the first African American to be elected a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (1951), and the first non-white physician to perform a major surgery at King George's Hospital in Hamilton, Bermuda (1956). The J. Robert Gladden Society, dedicated to increasing diversity in the orthopaedic profession, improving musculoskeletal patient care by improving culturally competent care, and eliminating musculoskeletal healthcare disparities in underserved groups, is named for him.

3—D, E, B, A, C. Both knee and shoulder arthroscopies are performed more frequently than joint replacement surgery. Knee replacement is performed more often than hip replacement, and shoulder replacement is performed much less frequently than any of the other procedures listed. 4–C. Willis Campbell, MD, was a pediatrician when he first began practice in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1909 he traveled to London, Vienna, Boston, and New York to study orthopaedics before returning to Memphis to establish his orthopaedic practice.

5–A. Aristotle thought the bones of the fingers resembled a row of Greek warriors ready for battle, so he called them “phalanges ” (Greek for “closely knit row”). Later the term was also used for the bones of the toes. In Greek military terminology, phalanx described a mass military formation of infantry troops moving as one unit.