Orthopaedic surgeons - Inheritors of tradition

Bonesetting, a most ancient healing art, was absorbed into orthopaedic surg ery approximately 120 years ago when Hugh Owen Thomas, a medical doctor spe cializing in pediatric deformities, assumed his father's nonmedical boneset ting practice. In many nonWestern nations, however, traditional bonesetters continue to treat large numbers of patients. Current market forces in the United States threaten to reduce the role of orthopaedic surgeons in the ma nagement of fractures not requiring surgery, leading to the possible reemer gence of bonesetting as a separate and independent discipline.