DePuy Synthes Spine has introduced the Expedium Verse Spinal System, which it claims may simplify spinal surgery and optimise surgical outcomes. This product — an all-in-one pedicle screw system — could enable surgeons to perform multiple spinal correction manoeuvres during spinal fusion surgery with a single implant type and fewer instruments than can traditional pedicle screw systems. This might reduce the number of screws needed in a procedure and, DuPuy Synthes Spine claims, could potentially reduce the risk of screw pull-out or migration when compared to traditional screws.
The Expedium Verse “Correction Key” enables conversion to multiple screw types, which expands implant functionality, provides intraoperative flexibility and may reduce the number of screws needed, according to DePuy Synthes Spine. The system is designed to decrease the number of instrument trays required for procedures to as few as four and helps reduce sterilisation costs by 84%, the company claim. The use of fewer implants and instruments may also help reduce procedure time.
“The EXPEDIUM VERSE System is useful in complex spinal deformity as well as degenerative pathology,” says Suken A. Shah, division chief, Spine and Scoliosis Center, Nemours/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Delaware.
DePuy Synthes claim that the increased screw head angulation and reduction tabs optimise rod placement and may help reduce over-bending of the rod during implantation. Improved control over screw positioning and improved distribution of forces may help reduce the risk of screw pullout or migration when compared to traditional screws. According to DuPuy Synthes Spine, when used to treat degenerative disorders of the mid- and lower-back, the increased angulation of the Expedium verse Pedicle Screw may allow for less tissue retraction.
