Cardica, Inc. is trumpeting the first surgical procedure in the U.S. using its MicroCutter XCHANGE™ 30 cutting and stapling device, the only articulating five millimeter surgical stapler available today.
Background
Late in February 2014 we covered the news that Cardica’s MicroCutter XCHANGE™ 30 cutting and stapling device had gained U.S. FDA clearance. That piece is here.
Already approved for use in Europe, the MicroCutter XCHANGE™ 30 is a cartridge-based articulating surgical stapling device with a five-millimeter shaft diameter. Its U.S. clearance indicates it for use in a variety of gastrointestinal procedures and appendectomies.
The device is one of Cardica’s range of proprietary stapling and anastomotic devices for cardiac and laparoscopic surgical procedures, a portfolio that the company says is intended to reduce operating time and facilitate minimally-invasive and robot-assisted surgeries.
The newly reported procedure, an appendectomy, was performed by Juan-Carlos Verdeja, M.D., F.A.C.S., at West Kendall Baptist Hospital in Florida on March 3, 2014.
Physician comments
“The availability of the MicroCutter XCHANGE 30 in the U.S. has been a long time coming,” said Dr. Verdeja, medical director of emergency surgical services for Baptist Health South Florida. “We have been waiting for a smaller stapler for decades and I believe having the MicroCutter at our disposal can change the way we perform some less invasive surgeries. The ability to use smaller and fewer access ports equates to less patient trauma, and improved articulation equates to more versatility. This appendectomy today was only one example of where I believe we will see the MicroCutter provide value. I am truly excited for our patients and the surgical community.”
Source: Cardica, Inc., PR Newswire
published: March 12, 2014 in: General Surgery