Safe Orthopaedics has announced the first use of its new Auto-Adjust pedicle screw in surgical procedures to repair thoracic and lumbar spine fractures.
Auto-Adjust is a novel pedicle screw that gives Safe Orthopaedics access to the spinal trauma market, valued at an estimated €800m worldwide. This implant is designed to simplify surgical repair of vertebral fractures and facilitate the restoration of sagittal balance.
Auto-Adjust is a multi-axial screw that helps position the rods but operates like a fixed-head screw to realign the spine. This system provides gradual and automatic fracture reduction, with a surgical procedure identical to that of standard spinal fusion.
To date, eight surgeries have been performed in France and the Netherlands, two of them through a percutaneous approach.
Hervé Vouaillat, orthopaedist surgeon at Echirolles Clinique des Cèdres, France, said, “For the first time, we have been using a new type of pedicle screw in trauma that allows an easy reduction of the vertebral fracture through a percutaneous approach. This implant from Safe Orthopaedics provides reproducibility and therefore secures fracture reduction. Furthermore, the single-use instruments guarantee permanent availability.”
Jasper Wolfs, neurosurgeon at Leidschendam Medical Center, the Netherlands, added: “The Auto-Adjust screw has the advantages of a polyaxial and a monoaxial screw. In traumatic spine injury in particular, this screw has the amazing ability to realign the spine and restore the sagittal balance. Many spine surgeons had been waiting for just such an implant.”
Yves Vignancour, chief executive officer of Safe Orthopaedics concluded: “The abilities of our new Auto-Adjust implant are very promising: not only does it make surgery safer, it also optimises it and thus delivers greater benefits to the patient.”
