DePuy Synthes Launches Single Use Kits for Wrist Fracture Surgery

DePuy Synthes has introduced the Distal Radius Sterile Kit, a pre-sterilized, single-use kit of instruments and implants to treat wrist fractures. The streamlined kits provide customers with the company’s market-leading plate and screw implants with instrumentation designed to help optimize operating room efficiency and eliminate procedural sterilization costs.
 
An estimated 640,000 wrist fractures occur annually in men and women of all ages in the United States and are one of the most frequently seen fractures in the emergency room in people under 65.¹ With such a high volume of procedures, surgeon and provider customers want a solution that enables high-quality treatment for patients while improving efficiency, reducing costs and minimizing delays associated with instrumentation and sterilization problems. One Canadian study demonstrated that surgical delays as brief as 10 minutes may cost a hospital more than $130,000 in staffing costs alone per year.²
 
The Distal Radius Sterile Kit consists of one Variable Angle LCP Two-Column Volar Distal Radius Plate, a distribution of screws, and the required fixation instrumentation—commonly what is needed for up to 80 percent of distal radius fracture cases currently treated with plates and screws. The simplified composition of the kit is designed to drive repeatable, more consistent procedures.
 
“It’s important in trauma cases for the instrumentation to be arranged in a way that the surgeon can focus on the patient without distraction from the back table,” said Marc Richard, M.D., Associate Professor, Hand, Upper Extremity, and Microvascular Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center. “In my experience with these sterile kits, they have helped assure availability of the distal radius plates during unscheduled trauma cases.  Additionally, I have found that the simplified set and instrumentation can help the scrub team preserve operating room efficiency.”
 
The Distal Radius Sterile kit brings value to healthcare systems by eliminating costs and time for sterilization. A UK industry report cites that single-use kits may save approximately $285 per procedure for sterilization, transport, and handling.³
 
“The Distal Radius Sterile Kit is an example of how we are responding to customer needs by providing value beyond the implant,” said I.V. Hall, global franchise leader, DePuy Synthes Trauma. “By combining our market-leading plate and screw solution with single-use instrumentation, we are supporting our customers ranging from academic medical centers to community hospitals in providing high-quality care in an efficient, cost-effective way.”
 
References
¹Nellans, Kate W., et al. The Epidemiology of Distal Radius Fractures. Hand Clin. 2012 May; 28(2): 113–125. 
²Wong J, Khu KJ, Kaderali Z, Bernstein M. Delays in the operating room: signs of an imperfect system. Canadian Journal of Surgery. 2010;53(3):189-195. 
³Goldrein T, Locsei T, Craigwood, A. DYQ06 – Costs of Orthopaedic Surgery. Innovia Technology Report. 2010. Note: costs were converted from GBP to USD using 2010 conversion rates.