Social Media and Rotator Cuff Surgery: An Analysis of Patient Utilization on Instagram

Purpose: The purpose of this observational study is to investigate the content of social media posts shared with the hashtags [#rotatorcuffsurgery], [#rotatorcuff repair] and [#rotatorcuff]. In particular, we analyzed the contents of posts for timing and perspective, tone, patient’s satisfaction and content. 
Methods: Posts shared in the Instagram database with the [#rotatorcuffsurgery], [#rotatorcuff repair], and [#rotatorcuff] hashtags from September 1, 2019, to September 1, 2020, were analyzed and categorized by three separate reviewers. Of all 1785 posts, 142 were excluded since they were not related to orthopedic surgery and 12 were excluded due to inter-reviewer disagreements. Finally, 1631 posts shared by patients and surgeons were identified for final analysis in terms of perspective, timing, tone and the content of the posts. 
Results: Of the 1631 posts included in the study, 1140 were shared by patients and their acquaintances, whereas 491 posts were shared by orthopedic surgeons. Posts shared by patients and their acquaintances mainly focused on rehabilitation (66%), daily activities (12%) and surgical site (10%), whereas, posts shared by surgeons mainly focused on intraoperative images (52%) and postoperative patient images (29%). 
Conlusions: Patients were found to share their surgical experiences in a positive tone and they particularly focused on the rehabilitation process. Whereas orthopedic surgeons commonly shared intraoperative images, probably to better market themselves. Our findings show that the social media posts of patients who undergo rotator cuff surgery may provide important data in the understanding of patients' expectations from rotator cuff surgery.