Mitek Sports Medicine Showcases Two New Products at AAOS

The Mitek Sports Medicine division of DePuy Synthes has introduced two new products this month: The Milagro Advance Interference Screw (pictured left), a biocomposite screw; and a straight blade designed for use with the Endurance hip solutions line of hip arthroscopy instruments and devices.

According to Mitek, the Milagro screw has a distal tip that can reduce bone engagement load by more than 80 percent, which in turn enables easier insertion into hard bone. The distal tip’s larger thread pitch and distance between grooves also reportedly helps reduce torque transmission to soft tissue, and speeds up insertion.

“I’ve used Milagro [Bioreplaceable] Screws in my practice for years. The screws provide excellent fixation and promote bony ingrowth over time. We have seen no complications in use of the screw,” said Bert Mandelbaum, M.D., of the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group in California. “This latest generation Milagro Advance screw addresses the need for a biocomposite screw with better screw engagement and faster insertion.”

The Milagro Interference Screw first was introduced in 2004, when it became the first implant made of Biocryl Rapide, a biocomposite material used exclusively by Mitek. Since then the screw has been implanted in more than 250,000 patients. The new generation of Milagro screws are made from the same material, which, according to data published in Arthroscopy Journal in 2011, absorbs and allows for ossification of the implant site in as little as three years after anterior cruciate ligament repair The new interference screws received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February 2012.

The new straight blade introduced with the new Milagro screw has a rounded sharp tip. Both devices were showcased at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons last week in Chicago, Ill.

Mitek Sports Medicine is based in Raynham, Mass. It is a division of DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson and Johnson company.

Photo courtesy of the National Institute of Health.