Integra LifeSciences has announced that the first clinical application of the Coral Spinal System for minimally invasive spine surgery was performed by Dr. Morteza Farr from Santa Cruz, California, who is the surgeon designer of this new percutaneous tube instrument set. This set extends the application of the Coral Spinal System to minimally invasive surgical procedures of the lumbar spine.
In 2009 in the United States, an estimated 450,000 thoraco-lumbar fusions were performed to treat spinal disorders. Spine surgeons typically perform these procedures using highly invasive open techniques. The Coral system now gives surgeons a minimally invasive option to place the pedicle screws through a percutaneous tube. Patient benefits may include faster procedures, reduced blood loss, less tissue trauma, reduced postoperative pain and a shorter hospital stay.
Farr began working with Integra Spine on the concept for the tubes in June 2009 and performed the first surgery approximately six months later. “The patient underwent a one level procedure to correct degenerative disc disease at L4-L5. The system was ideal for this case; it limited the size of the incision and helped minimise trauma to the posterior musculature. As part of this case, I also used the Integra Spine Vu e-POD intervertebral body fusion device in order to restore the intervertebral disc height,” said Farr. “The surgery went smoothly and the patient is doing well.”
The simplicity of the Coral system’s percutaneous tubes can help reduce the number of required steps for the surgeon. The tubes easily snap on to the screw head, eliminating the need to twist the tube or tighten a set screw. “Working with the engineering team at Integra Spine was a great experience. They were extremely responsive to the percutaneous tube concept and applied it to the Coral system,” said Farr.
“We pride ourselves on our engineers’ ability to work directly with the surgeon to design and develop products in-house,” said Randy Theken, president of Integra Spine.
