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The authors hypothesized that the use of incentive spirometry by orthopedic patients is less than the recommended level and is affected by patient-related factors and type of surgery. To determine its postoperative use, the authors prospectively surveyed all patients in their institution's general orthopedic ward who had undergone elective spine surgery or total knee or hip arthroplasty during a consecutive 3-month period in 2010, excluding patients with postoperative delirium or requiring a monitored bed. All 182 patients (74 men, 108 women; average age, 64.5 years; range, 32-88 years; spine group, n=55; arthroplasty group, n=127), per protocol, received preoperative spirometry education by a licensed respiratory therapist (recommended use, 10 times hourly) and reinforcement education by nurses. Patients were asked twice daily (morning and evening) regarding their spirometry use during the previous 1-hour period by a registered nurse on postoperative days 1 through 3. All data were collected by the same 2 nurses using the same standardized questionnaire. Spirometry use was correlated with surgery type, postoperative day/time, and patient's age and sex. Student's t test, Spearman test, and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare differences (P<.05). Spirometry use averaged 4.1 times per hour (range, 0-10 times). No statistical correlations were found between spirometry use and age. Sex did not influence spirometry use. The arthroplasty group reported significantly higher use than did the spine group: 4.3 and 3.5 times per hour, respectively. Mean use increased significantly between postoperative days 1, 2, and 3., (Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.)