Shared by Mr. Aaron Swedberg

Smith & Nephew receives FDA 510k clearance for a 30-year knee New wear simulator data shows Smith & Nephew’s exclusive VERILAST◊ technology reduces leading cause of knee implant failure by 81-percent over 30-year spanMemphis, Tenn. April 22, 2010 – As evidence of its drive to return knee pain sufferers to a lifetime of physical activity, Smith & Nephew NYSE: SNN, LSE: SN Orthopaedics Division today announces the results of unprecedented testing on its VERILAST technology for knee replacement implants. After simulating 30 years of physical activity on the company’s LEGION◊ knee replacement, VERILAST technology produced an 81-percent reduction in wear, the leading cause of knee replacement failure.

via Smith & Nephew | Smith & Nephew receives FDA 510k clearance for a 30-year knee.

By Smit Shah, Editor, medGadget

Cayenne Medical announced today that their AperFix System has shown promise as a means for reconstruction of the posterior cruciate ligament PCL in a study published in the February 2010 issue of Orthopedics. In the study, six patients average age = 36 years underwent PCL reconstruction using the AperFix System, and all six had restored knee stability and range of motion at six months after surgery. The system, which is currently FDA approved for use in ACL reconstruction, is implanted using a single-incision arthroscopy.

Read complete story:  AperFix System, A Novel Femoral Fixation Device For PCL Reconstruction.

Concerns Over ‘Metal on Metal’ Hip Implants

via Concerns Over ‘Metal on Metal’ Hip Implants – NYTimes.com.

Matthew Holst for The New York Times

By BARRY MEIER

Published: March 3, 2010

Some of the nation’s leading orthopedic surgeons have reduced or stopped use of a popular category of artificial hips amid concerns that the devices are causing severe tissue and bone damage in some patients, often requiring replacement surgery within a year or two.

In recent years, such devices, known as “metal on metal” implants, have been used in about one-third of the approximately 250,000 hip replacements performed annually in this country. They are used in conventional hip replacements and in a popular alternative procedure known as resurfacing.

via Concerns Over ‘Metal on Metal’ Hip Implants – NYTimes.com.

Health System Bears Cost of Implants With No Warranties

via News Analysis – Makers of Artificial Joints Rarely Offer Warranties – NYTimes.com.

By BARRY MEIER

Published: April 2, 2010

In January, William R. Morris’s artificial hip, just three years old, was failing so badly that it had to be replaced during an extensive procedure that cost about $50,000.

Joshua Borough for The New York Times

William R. Morris had his three-year-old artificial hip replaced in January because it was failing. It was his third hip replacement since 2006.

The maker of the failed hip has since sent letters to Mr. Morris’s doctor, but none offering to cover replacement expenses for the device, which typically is expected to last 15 years.

via News Analysis – Makers of Artificial Joints Rarely Offer Warranties – NYTimes.com.