K2M Group Holdings Inc. has launched the MESA 2 Cricket, an enhancement to the company’s MESA 2 Deformity Spinal System. The MESA 2 Cricket provides surgeons the ability to efficiently complete challenging correction maneuvers in all three anatomical planes, with the goal of achieving three-dimensional balance in patients with complex spinal deformities.
 
The MESA 2 Cricket offers a 360-degree approach to more easily capture, manipulate, and align a deformed spine as compared to traditional MESA deformity correction instrumentation. This new instrumentation—available for both rods and K2M’s MESA Rail—eliminates the need for reduction screws and allows for simultaneous multi-axial translation and reduction, as well as for quick removal.
 
“I have been a long-time user of MESA, and have used it to treat multiple spinal pathologies over the years,” said William Clark, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at the Tulsa Bone and Joint Spine Center in Oklahoma and an associate fellow of the Scoliosis Research Society. “I’m excited about this next-generation Cricket; easy just got easier.” 
 
MESA 2—the company’s flagship platform featuring the MESA technology—is a pedicle screw system with wide ranging implants and versatile instruments necessary in the treatment of complex spinal pathologies. Top-loading, dual-lead thread, and low-profile MESA 2 screws feature Zero-Torque Technology, when combined with one-handed locking instruments, and compared to original MESA screws, increase operative efficiency and eliminate surgical steps without applying torsional stress to the spine.
 
“We are excited to add the MESA 2 Cricket to our MESA 2 portfolio to coincide with this year’s deformity season,” K2M President and CEO Eric Major said. “For over a decade, K2M’s MESA technology has transformed how surgeons treat complex spinal deformities by focusing on operative efficiency, ease of use, and three-dimensional spinal balance as essential to achieving quality outcomes in patients. We’ve utilized these 3D-correction principles inherent in our MESA technology as the foundation of our Balance ACS (or BACS) platform, and will continue integrating our core competencies in complex spine innovations—and advancements in 3D solutions—to help achieve Total Body Balance for patients with spinal disorders.”
 
K2M’s Balance ACS is a comprehensive platform applying three-dimensional solutions across the entire clinical care continuum to help drive quality outcomes in spine patients. BACS provides solutions focused on achieving balance of the spine by addressing each anatomical vertebral segment with a 360-degree approach to the axial, coronal, and sagittal planes, emphasizing Total Body Balance as an important component of surgical success.
 
To date, more than 56,000 surgical cases using MESA Deformity Spinal Systems have been completed.
 
K2M Group Holdings Inc. is a developer and provider of complex spine and minimally invasive solutions focused on achieving three-dimensional Total Body Balance. Since its inception, K2M has designed, developed, and commercialized complex spine and minimally invasive spine technologies and techniques used by spine surgeons to treat some of the most complicated spinal pathologies. K2M has leveraged these core competencies into Balance ACS, a platform of products, services, and research to help surgeons achieve three-dimensional spinal balance across the axial, coronal, and sagittal planes, with the goal of supporting the full continuum of care to facilitate quality patient outcomes. The company is based in Leesburg, Va.