Plating System for Treating Trauma Patients

A new trauma plating device is used to treat lower extremity bone fractures, allowing the surgeon to save time in the operating room and perform less-invasive surgeries.

Called Peri-Loc, the system offers a unique multi-purpose screw hole that gives the option of locking and nonlocking procedures in one system. Locking screws aid compression, the process that pushes bone fractures together to speed healing. The plating system also includes simplified instrument sets for easy use, including standardized drill guides and screwdrivers to save time, and scalloped plate edges that allow screws to be placed outside the plate. For use in minimally invasive procedures, the Peri-Loc system will have radiolucent targetters for fast accurate fitting. This feature debuts later in 2005.

To research these features, Smith & Nephew called on a global team of surgeons and design engineers. To optimize the fit of the plates, they studied hundreds of bones at one of the world's largest cadaveric bone libraries in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (OH, USA). More than 1,000 surgical evaluations have already been conducted, the most ever for a Smith & Nephew product prior to broader launch.

"There are many special features designed into the Peri-Loc system, including precise anatomical contours to more closely fit the fractured bone,” noted Scott Flora, senior vice president and general manager of the Trauma Division of Smith & Nephew Orthopedics (Memphis, TN, USA). "This introduction adds to our full line of trauma surgical products to help better service our customers.”




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