Misonix, Inc., an international surgical device company that designs, manufactures and markets innovative therapeutic ultrasonic products for spine surgery, skull based surgery, neurosurgery, wound debridement, cosmetic surgery, laparoscopic surgery and other surgical applications, has announced that a team of spine surgeons from Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, CA has published their findings from a recent study on utilization of the ultrasonic BoneScalpel in spinal fusion surgery. The article “Blood loss reduction during surgical correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis utilizing an ultrasonic BoneScalpel” is published in the July edition of Spinal Deformity, which is the official journal of the Scoliosis Research Society.
The retrospective review of prospectively collected data compared data from 20 consecutive patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who underwent posterior spinal fusion using the ultrasonic BoneScalpel by a single surgeon with two control groups: 1.) the 20 most recent prior cases of the same surgeon before beginning use of the BoneScalpel and 2.) 20 cases of the same surgeon before using the BoneScalpel and matched based on Cobb angle magnitudes, a measure for surgical correction of spinal deformity. The authors concluded that use of the ultrasonic BoneScalpel to perform the bone cuts associated with facetectomies and apical Ponte-type posterior releases resulted in significantly less bleeding compared with cuts made with standard osteotomes and rongeurs, limiting overall blood loss by 30 to 40%.
Dr. Peter Newton, senior author of the article comments: “Previous articles have reported that the BoneScalpel is safe and effective in performing a variety of spine surgeries and an observed decrease in intraoperative bleeding had been noted by other authors. We felt it important to conduct an empirical evaluation of the blood loss by looking at a single diagnosis – adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, with two control groups by a single surgeon. Our results showed a substantial reduction in blood loss from cuts on spinal bone which led to an equally significant reduction in transfused cell saver blood in this scoliosis patient population.”
Blood loss varies greatly in spine surgery and is typically higher in spinal fusions. Greater blood loss is associated with more blood transfusion and thus exposure to blood products and higher risk of disease transmission or adverse reactions or prolonged stay in the hospital. Blood products like intraoperative cell savers also come at a considerable logistics and economic burden to the hospital.
Michael A. McManus, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Misonix adds, “We are extremely pleased by the continuing and expanding evidence on BoneScalpel’s unique benefits and its increasing utilization in advanced spine surgeries around the world. The observed reduction in blood loss in these young patients with severe spinal deformities is clearly remarkable and has been confirmed by other top hospitals in the U.S. and overseas. Hospitals are increasingly trying to reduce the amount of blood transfusions and it is important to see that the BoneScalpel can contribute to these efforts, both from a clinical and economic perspective.”
