Raj N. Sureja, MD, of Orthopaedic & Spine Center in Newport News, Va., recently became the first physician in Virginia, and one of the first physicians in the United States, to use the Stryker TroFlex Curved Needle to treat a vertebral compression fracture patient during a balloon kyphoplasty procedure.
Here are five key points:
1. The minimally invasive needle allows the physician to inject bone cement into the fractured vertebral body. "The Stryker TroFlex Curved Needle helps me to do the balloon kyphoplasty procedure more quickly, be less invasive and I can better place the bone cement more consistently throughout the vertebrae to stabilize the fracture," said Dr. Sureja in the news release.
2. Dr. Sureja is an interventional pain management specialist experienced in treating compression fractures. He focuses on pain reduction of spine and spine-related disorders through minimally invasive interventional procedures. He is a member of the North American Spine Society, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians and American Medical Association.
3. The procedure was performed at Orthopaedic & Spine Center, a full service orthopedic office with 24 patient exam rooms, three X-ray suites with fluoroscopy, a lunar DPX bone densitometer room, an open magnetic resonance imaging center and space for physical therapy. The center includes eight physicians who have full staff privileges at Riverside Regional Medical Center and Mary Immaculate Hospitals, located in Newport News.
4. According to a Transparency Market Research report, the global minimally invasive vertebral compression fracture repair market is expected to reach $2.82 billion by 2019. Additionally, it is expected that the global market for kyphoplasty will reach $1.47 billion by 2019.
Medtronic is a key player in the VCF repair market, with a market share of 80 percent. Its Kyphon product line includes the Kyphon Xpander II IBT System for treating VCF. Other key players in the market include Zimmer Holdings, Globus Medical and Alphatec Spine.
5. However, the balloon kyphoplasty procedure is facing competition from Benvenue Medical's Kiva VCF Treatment System. A study published in Spine found that the Kiva system was as effective as balloon kyphoplasty in reducing pain associated with osteolytic vertebral body metastases. The study also found that no patients treated with the Kiva system experienced cement leakage, compared with 9.3 percent of the balloon kyphoplasty patient group, who did experience leakage.
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