KFx Medical Corporation announced today the PASTAFx Anchor System, used in the repair of partial rotator cuff tears, including Partial Articular Sided Tendon Avulsion (PASTA) tears.
In the United States, approximately 400,000 full thickness rotator cuff tears are treated each year. PASTAFx will allow orthopaedic surgeons to intervene earlier in repairing this degenerative condition of the supraspinatus tendon – one of the four tendons that make up the rotator cuff.
Prior to the creation of PASTAFx, PASTA lesions were generally treated by fully tearing the remaining supraspinatus tendon off from its natural position and repairing it through reattachment, according to Jonathan Ticker, MD, an assistant clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.
“As surgeons we are conflicted with these types of tears. On the one hand, we are trained to preserve healthy tissue; however, we know the likely outcomes of this progressive disease once it begins,” Ticker said. “I am seeing a growing body of literature advocating the trend toward earlier intervention to remediate PASTA lesions given the natural progression of rotator cuff disease. The KFx PASTAFx is a valuable tool in the arsenal of shoulder surgeons to preserve healthy tissue and achieve optimal outcomes regardless of what kind of tears are encountered in rotator cuff pathology.”
Tate Scott, chairman and CEO of KFx Medical Corporation, said the approach of PASTAFx enables a surgeon to avoid the extra “tear to repair” step and removal of healthy tissue.
“No other system allows a surgeon to place an anchor with the clinically required strength under tissue without having to first remove the tissue, then place the anchors, thread sutures through tissue, replace the tissue and finally repair,” Scott said. “The PASTAFx system enables a surgeon to treat the large numbers of people with this progressive disease at an early stage of its natural progression.”
Source: KFx Medical Corporation
published: February 26, 2009 in: Companies, Knee, Orthopaedics, Specialty