News from AAOS: Southern Spine Expands Sales to Europe

Southern Spine LLC, an ISO 13485:2003 certified manufacturer of spinal surgical implants and instruments, is expanding its sales reach through an agreement with a major Italian distributor. The company also reports it has performed numerous successful cases of its patented StabiLink MIS Spinal Fixation System.

“Now that our StabiLink System is CE Marked, as well as FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration]- cleared, we are excited to begin expanding our global distribution beyond the U.S. market,” CEO David C. Field said. “We will continue to locate other qualified spine distributors throughout the world that are interested in having our system in their portfolio.”

Carolina Medical Center neurosurgeon Michael Cowen, M.D., said the system’s principle benefit lies in its placement between the spinous processes. “The anterior “tray” design of the StabiLink implant creates an ideal containment area for the maximum amount of bone graft material to optimize bony fixation between the spinous process,” he noted in a news release.

Based on hundreds of successful StabiLink MIS Spinal Implant procedures, the company is adding a new C2 Base Plate and C2 Lamina Plate to its previously released C3 Base Plate to improve outcomes in minimally invasive spinal fixation procedures.

Southern Spine has been issued three U.S. patents for its StabiLink System, including the Precision Guided (PG) Instrument. “We have found that once a surgeon uses our PG Inserter/Compressor to implant our StabiLink MIS implant, they fully appreciate how simple and complete our system is and how it has significantly reduced the “fiddle-factor” and surgery time associated with other instrumentation,” Field said.

The company claims its PG Inserter/Compressor is the first and only all-in-one instrument that redefines ease-of-use and allows the surgeon to quickly and accurately place the StabiLink Implant with or without removal of the interspinous ligaments.

Southern Spine is based in Macon, Ga. The company is exhibiting (booth 7018) at this year’s annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in New Orleans, La. (March 11-15).