Drs. Thomas Evely, Eugene Brabston, and Amit Momaya, faculty members in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, are authors of a recently published article titled “The incidence of shoulder arthroplasty infection presents a substantial economic burden in the United States: a predictive model.”

The study, which was published in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, aimed to “quantify the rise in shoulder periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) and the economic stress they currently place on the American healthcare system as well as the toll they will incur over the coming decade.”

Study results showed the large economic burden that shoulder PJIs pose on the American health care system, which is predicted to reach nearly $500 million in charges annually by 2030. Understanding trends in procedure volume and hospital charges will be a key component in evaluating strategies to reduce shoulder PJIs.

Multiple current and former department members were also involved in this study, including Drs. Brent Ponce, Samuel Schick, Joseph Elphingstone, and William Davis.