Study Shows NuVasive Cohere Porous PEEK Spinal Interbody Promotes Improved Early Outcomes

NuVasive Inc. today announced the results of a study, “Early Clinical Outcomes Comparing Porous PEEK, Smooth PEEK, and Structural Allograft Interbody Devices for Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion,” published online in the Journal of Spine & Neurosurgery, which concludes that the company’s proprietary Cohere Porous polyetheretherketone (PEEK) implant demonstrates a clear benefit in promoting improved early outcomes over structural allograft and smooth PEEK in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) procedures. 
 
In the study, 167 patients presenting with degenerative cervical disc disease underwent ACDF using Cohere Porous PEEK, structural allograft or smooth PEEK in the interbody space. Patients receiving Cohere exhibited significant clinical improvements relative to preoperative (pre-op) scores, better outcomes than alternative treatments as early as six weeks and sustained improvements relative to other treatments through 12 months post-op. 
 
As cited in the study’s results, patients who were treated with Cohere Porous PEEK interbody fusion devices achieved clear improvements in neck disability index (NDI) scores and pain by six-weeks post-op, while patients treated with smooth PEEK showed significant improvements starting at three-months post-op. While structural allograft patients began to improve over baseline by six weeks, Porous PEEK patients showed statistically significant improvements over baseline by two weeks and significantly greater improvements than allograft and smooth PEEK patients by six-weeks post-op. This early improvement was maintained at all reported post-op time points out to one-year post-op.


 
“This is the first comparative study between NuVasive’s Cohere Porous PEEK, smooth PEEK and allograft interbody spacers in ACDF, and it was found that patients treated with a Porous PEEK implant experienced incrementally improved early clinical improvements, which were sustained through the course of the study,” said Kyle Malone, senior director of Medical Affairs at NuVasive. “Studies like this both corroborate the preclinical data as well as reaffirm NuVasive’s commitment to clinical research and the necessity of having this as part of the product development process so we continually offer surgeons the best, most clinically proven technologies for their patients.”
 
Cohere Porous PEEK provides a unique three-dimensional porous architecture designed to elicit and encourage bone in-growth¹ and stabilization without compromising implant strength or radiolucency. NuVasive incorporated the proprietary technology, which is validated with more than 10 years of scientific research, after acquiring Vertera Spine in September 2017.
 
NuVasive Inc. is focused on transforming spine surgery and beyond with minimally disruptive, procedurally integrated solutions designed to deliver reproducible and clinically-proven surgical outcomes. The company’s portfolio includes access instruments, implantable hardware, biologics, software systems for surgical planning, navigation and imaging solutions, magnetically adjustable implant systems for spine and orthopedics, and intraoperative monitoring service offerings. With more than $1 billion in revenues, NuVasive has approximately 2,600 employees and operates in more than 50 countries serving surgeons, hospitals and patients.

Reference
¹ Torstrick FB, Safranski DL, Burkus JK, et al. Getting PEEK to stick to bone: The development of porous PEEK for interbody devices. Tech Orthop 2017;32(3):9.