First EOI FLXfit 3D expandable cage implantation takes place in Las Vegas, USA

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The first procedure using the FLXfit expandable cage from Expanding Orthopedics (EOI) has been performed by William D Smith at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, USA.

Smith, director of Performance Improvement for the Western Regional Center for Brain & Spine Surgery and the chief of Neurosurgery for the University Medical Center, Las Vegas, USA, has started to use the FLXfit as an alternative for minimal invasive spinal fusion cases.

Smith, who specialises in minimal invasive spine surgery, says, “Many of my L1-L5 patients are treated through a lateral approach. However, the L5-S1 disc space cannot be accessed laterally. Furthermore, the L5-S1 disc space, located at the end of the construct and has the largest segmental lordosis angle, is critical for the anterior column support and for the restoration of the spinal alignment balance. The optimal device for this level should provide large surface support as well as the ability to restore the natural lordosis angle through a minimally invasive approach.”

Smith’s notes state that, “the FLXfit can be delivered posteriorly through an MIS tube while offering an…ALIF-type…footprint. Its…lordotic expansion enables to dial-in the lordosis angle to match the patient’s anatomy”.

One-year follow-up transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) data on the cage was presented at the 2016 meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spinal Surgery (ISASS; Las Vegas, USA) by Le Huec, head of the Ortho-Spine Department, Bordeaux University Hospital, France.

Le Huec explains, “The FLXfit enables in-situ lordosis correction in a simple and effective surgical procedure. The cage’s…angular expansion allows [one] to dial in the lordosis angle and to fit it to the patient’s anatomy.”

 

He notes, “All patients underwent a successful instrumented TLIF procedure without any short term complication[s]. Lordosis correction of 8 degrees (±2.1 degrees) was achieved, allowing restoration of the sagittal alignment with no cage subsidence”.