NASS News: DePuy Synthes Introduces Expedium Verse Spinal System

Appearances truly can be deceiving.

Proof of this well-known adage clearly was evident at the North American Spine Society’s 30th Annual Meeting this week in Chicago, Ill., where more than 340 exhibitors vied for attention (and business) on the trade show floor. Housed in a colossal third-level exposition hall, the exhibitors tried luring attendees and potential customers with large, in-your-face signage (Orthofix N.V., NuVasive Inc., K2M, Innovasis, Invuity) and/or rotating ceiling displays (Globus Medical, Spine Craft, DTrax, Mazor Robotics, In’Tech Medical). 

Yet it was DePuy Synthes that essentially stole the spotlight, though not by virtue of booth design or sign size. Rather, it garnered its own excitement through a good old-fashioned product release.

The company’s spine division introduced the Expedium Verse Spinal System, an “all-in-one” pedicle screw system that enables surgeons to perform multiple correction maneuvers during spinal fusion surgery with a single implant type and fewer instruments compared to traditional pedicle screw systems.Expedium Verse may reduce the number of screws needed in a procedure and potentially reduce the risk of screw pullout or migration when compared to traditional screws, DePuy Synthes executives noted in a news release.

During spinal fusion surgery, surgeons often must use various screw types and complex instruments to straighten or stabilize the spine. With the Expedium Verse system, a “correction key” allows physicians to convert to multiple screw types, helping expand implant functionality, providing intraoperative flexibility and potentially reducing the number of screws needed for the procedure. In addition, the system design reduces the number of instrument trays required for procedures to as few as four¹ and helps reduce sterilization costs by 84 percent.²  The use of fewer implants and instruments also may help reduce procedure time.

“The Expedium Verse System is useful in complex spinal deformity as well as degenerative pathology,” said Suken A. Shah, M.D., division chief of the Spine and Scoliosis Center at Nemours/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del. “In my opinion, it may fundamentally change the way surgeons approach scoliosis by offering any number of ways to engage the rod and derotate the spine in order to truly achieve three-dimensional correction. Set consolidation and limited need for ancillary instruments improve operating room efficiency and provide additional value for the hospital through easier adoption, faster turnover, and less sterilization demands.”

During the procedure, increased screw head angulation and reduction tabs optimize rod placement and may help reduce over-bending of the rod during implantation, which can lead to rod fatigue.³ Improved control over screw positioning and improved distribution of forces may help reduce the risk of screw pullout or migration when compared to traditional screws. ^4,5,6 Moreover, when used to treat degenerative disorders of the mid- and lower-back, the increased angulation of the Expedium Verse Pedicle Screw may allow for less tissue retraction.    

“The Expedium Verse Spinal System was designed with the changing healthcare environment in mind,” said Dan Wildman, platform leader of DePuy Synthes Spine. “Our goal from the beginning was to develop an implant-based system that would benefit patients while supporting procedural efficiency and value. We have achieved that goal with the Expedium Verse Spinal System, which has the potential to optimize surgical correction, improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.”

The DePuy Synthes companies of Johnson & Johnson develops orthopedic and neurological solutions in the specialties of joint reconstruction, trauma, craniomaxillofacial, spinal surgery and sports medicine. 

DePuy Synthes Spine is showcasing the Expedium Verse System at booth 1423.