Ask An Orthopedist: Bicep Surgery

Calendar December 13, 2016

Question: What are the physical indications that bicep surgery, in which the head/top tendon is severed and reattached to the bone, is appropriate?

A good question without a definitive answer. Some orthopedists recommend having it fixed basically all the time. Some recommend never having it fixed. Some (and I’m in this group) determine if either the physical deformity is something you don’t want to live with or you do repetitive overhead sports or you do repetitive torsion with your forearm, i.e. screwing in screws, then you may be a candidate for fixing it. If none of the above criteria apply to you, then you can probably live with it just fine. You lose no significant motion or strength with a torn proximal biceps other than fatiguing early with overhead sports or forearm twisting motions.

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