New Products In Brief

Stryker's iVAS kyphoplasty system: Firm's Interventional Spine business launches iVAS minimally invasive, vertebral augmentation system for use in treating vertebral compression fractures (VCFs), Stryker announces April 13. During vertebral augmentation, also known as balloon kyphoplasty, a balloon catheter creates a void in the collapsed vertebra into which bone cement is delivered, creating an internal cast that stabilizes the fracture and alleviates pain in about 90% of patients, Stryker says. According to the firm, about 700,000 VCFs occur per year. Stryker now offers balloon kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty solutions on the same portfolio of "mixer and delivery systems, bone cements and needles," the firm notes, "giving physicians the flexibility to customize their treatment approach based on the type of compression fracture and patient anatomy." One recent study, however, suggests vertebroplasty treatment of spine fractures may have no lasting benefit (1"The Gray Sheet" Aug. 10. 2009)