Zimmer Holdings Announces Milestones in Minimally Invasive Joint Replacement

December 9, 2005—Zimmer Holdings, Inc., a leader in the orthopaedics industry, announced today that it is now following more than 2,500 Minimally Invasive Solutions™ (MIS™) 2-Incision™ Hip Replacement Procedure cases in active clinical studies. The Company estimates that in total more than 3,000 of the innovative procedures have been performed worldwide since inception in 2001.

Working with surgeon developers, Zimmer pioneered the MIS 2-Incision technique, launching an industry-wide drive in orthopaedics to make total joint replacement surgery less invasive, less painful and easier for patients to recover from. Clinically demonstrated benefits of Zimmer MIS 2-Incision hip replacement compared to traditional surgery include: a shorter hospital stay—1 to 2 days (rather than 3 to 5 days), with many patients able to go home in less than 24 hours; faster, less painful rehabilitation; and the possibility of a quicker return to work and daily activities.

“The MIS 2-Incision technique has delivered incredible benefits for thousands of patients and launched a movement that has literally changed the way hip replacement surgery is performed,” said Ray Elliott, Zimmer Chairman, President and CEO. “When performed as we envisioned it—on the right patients, with Zimmer Institute training and using our patented technique—the procedure has produced these benefits with no higher complication rate than traditional, more invasive surgery, and has been shown to produce savings in total costs while typically improving three month clinical outcomes.”

In 2,655 clinical study cases reported to Zimmer by surgeons since 2001, the following rates of complications were reported. These levels are well within the rates reported in scientific literature for traditional, open hip replacement using non-cemented implants.

Total Intraoperative Femoral Fracture: 125/2655=4.7%
Severe Intraoperative Femoral Fracture: 12/2655=0.5%
Postoperative Femoral Fracture: 13/2655=0.5%
Dislocation: 15/2655=0.6%
Nerve Deficit: 48/2655=1.8%
Early Post-operative Revision: 26/2655=1.0%

“There has been a great deal of misinformation about complication rates with the MIS 2-Incision procedure, often provided by surgeons who we did not train at the Zimmer Institute and who did not use our patented surgical technique,” said Elliott. “These complication rates show that in the hands of a wide variety of orthopaedic surgeons, the procedure can produce early post-operative benefits with no greater complication rates than traditional surgery.”

Although early MIS 2-Incision procedures were done in urban teaching institutions, surgeons in community practice have since offered it to their patients. “I have performed more than 360 2-Incision cases over the past two years and use the procedure on nearly all of my patients, heavy or thin, and from people in their early 30s to one patient who was an active 99-year-old,” said Dr. Jack W. Bowling, Jr., an orthopaedic surgeon with the Wilmington Orthopaedic Group, Wilmington, North Carolina. “Patients are really driving the interest in this procedure via word-of-mouth—they are just so happy with their results and they are passing that message on to their friends and family.” Dr. Bowling said he did experience a bit of a learning curve, but says complications are now virtually non-existent. He said he typically discharges patients from the hospital 36 to 48 hours after their joint replacement surgery.*

According to patient Eric Morgan, the pain he was experiencing finally reached a point that he had to move forward with something he had been dreading—total hip replacement. “I had researched hip replacement for a couple years because I was in such pain I knew I was going to need it, but I was never willing to accept that I was going to be off my feet for six months—I’m a general contractor and I have three kids and I just couldn’t afford that,” said Mr. Morgan. “Then one afternoon I was doing a walkthrough with a customer and she introduced me to a 65-year-old gentleman who said he had just had his hip replaced two weeks ago—and he had just walked up a set of stairs and was walking fine without any kind of aid. That led to an hour conversation which led me to Dr. Bowling. Dr. Bowling and this procedure saved my life…it gave me back my quality of life.” According to Mr. Morgan, he was back to work, half days, one week after surgery and then back to “full strength” the second week. “I went to physical therapy a few days after the surgery and the therapist could not believe I had had a hip replacement—I had to get my X-rays and show him,” said Mr. Morgan. “He said I was off the charts and there wasn’t anything else he could do for me.”*

Dr. William F. Hefley, Jr., an orthopaedic surgeon with Martin, Bowen, Hefley Knee and Sports in Little Rock, Arkansas, says his patients have had similar experiences. “With my more than 200 2-Incision cases, I have been very impressed at how quickly patients recover—they are up and going faster, they have less pain, they return to work more quickly and typically are walking without any kind of support within two weeks,” said Dr. Hefley. “Most of my patients are out of the hospital within 24 hours of their procedure and the complication rates I’ve seen have been very low. But the most impressive thing is how quickly patients get back to their regular life. Several patients have returned to work in three days. I had one patient, a pilot, who was flying again after 10 days. We’re literally giving people their lives back much more quickly than with traditional hip replacement surgery.”*

According to Bettye Platt, a patient of Dr. Hefley’s, she had heard a “buzz” about minimally invasive joint replacement and was motivated to learn about it and drive 250 miles to Little Rock to have the procedure done. “I walked out of the hospital (the day after the procedure) with a cane and I never used a walker. I never used crutches and I took nothing stronger than extra-strength Tylenol. I didn’t have to go through any painful physical therapy or anything. My friends were just astounded.”*

A fan of University of Arkansas basketball, she enjoyed her return to the arena following surgery. “Our seats are almost down on the floor level and it’s straight down,” she said. “Three-and-a-half weeks after the surgery, I was walking down to our seats with no assistance.”*

Zimmer says that the clear patient benefits of the MIS 2-Incision procedure have resulted in the development of other minimally invasive techniques that are being adopted by orthopaedic surgeons who preferred other approaches. “We have seen a tremendous response to our MIS Anterolateral Hip Replacement Technique, which involves a single incision, but maintains the muscle sparing advantages of the 2-Incision procedure,” said Elliott. “Developments are just as exciting in knee replacement, with more than 1,500 surgeons now trained to perform the Zimmer MIS Quad-Sparing™ Total Knee Replacement Procedure and with electromagnetic computer navigation available in a low cost, portable system.”

*Individual results may vary.

Also see; hip replacement surgery.

About The Author:

Jeff Nagel is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.hip-replacement-care.com. He has been working in the medical rehab field for more than a decade. Keeping up to date with techological advancements he has become a self appointed expert.