Stryker features low-profile designs for bone fracture repair, sponsors surgeon education events at 2010 AOFAS Summer Meeting

Stryker Corporation’s Orthopaedics Division is exhibiting its latest innovations in foot a ankle repair, at the 2010 Annual American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Summer Meeting in National Harbor, Maryland. At their booth (#400), Stryker is highlighting the VariAx Fibula and VariAx Foot Locked Plate Systems, featuring low-profile designs with polyaxial locking. The company will also host several educational events during the meeting, allowing surgeon attendees to learn from peers and gain hands-on experience with these products.

Stryker’s VariAx Fibula Locking Plate System and its AxSOS Extremity Plating System are designed to expand the range of treatment options for bone fracture repair, according to a company press release. Historically, surgeons used pre-determined screw angulation options for plating systems used in bone fracture repair, which may not have been precontoured for the patient’s indication or given surgeons the choice of locking or non-locking screws.

The new VariAx Fibula Locking Plate System is designed to provide solutions to these challenges by providing a precontoured plate for fractures of the distal fibula, the company noted. VariAx also gives surgeons the flexibility to choose the angulation of locking screws. At only 1.3mm distally, it has a very low-profile design, which can help minimize tissue irritation on the lateral side of the ankle where soft tissue coverage is minimal.

Stryker stated it will also focus on surgeon education and hands-on experience at the meeting. The first of these educational events is an “Interactive Case Review,” a special educational forum designed to discuss treatment options in foot and ankle repair, on Thursday, July 8, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel. John Anderson, MD, orthopedic surgeon from BESPA Medical and consultant to Stryker, will chair the event and lead a surgeon panel discussion. Attendees are encouraged to submit PDF X-ray images of cases beforehand to casereview@bespamed.com.

Meeting attendees can also take advantage of a workshop titled “Latest Technologies in the Treatment of Rearfoot and Distal Fibula Fractures,” where they can gain hands-on experience with the VariAx Foot and Fibula plating systems, according to the release. The workshop will be chaired by James B. Carr, MD, and will take place Friday, July 9, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., at the Gaylord National Harbor Conference Center.