Wenzel Spine Launches S-LIF Procedure

Wenzel Spine has launched its new S-LIF procedure for standalone lumbar interbody fusion using its VariLift-LX device.
 
According to Wenzel, VariLift-LX is the only standalone expandable posterior lumbar interbody fusion device FDA-cleared for for 1 or 2 level fusion.
 
Wenzel recently had its first S-LIF training lab in Austin, Texas so surgeons could have hands-on experience with the procedure and to explore new ways to prioritize surgical minimalism.
 
William Wilson, newly appointed CEO of Wenzel Spine, told the press, “Surgeons came to the lab with the question, ‘If I’m doing a least-invasive surgery and not incorporating screws and rods, how can I have confidence knowing that this technology will lead to strong, stable fusion for my patients?’ It was validating to watch them leave feeling excited, saying, ‘I can’t wait to start using this more and more in my practice.’”
 
Participating in the training was Ahmer Ghori, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who has done 50+ “Awake Fusion” procedures with Wenzel’s VariLift. He stated, “Increasingly, surgeons are asking, ‘What is the least invasive spine surgery that I can do for this patient?’ The VariLift device has allowed me to operate on some patients on an outpatient basis, usually using a local spinal anesthetic; and with the correct anesthesia plan, they have reasonable pain control to where they can go home and return to their lives sooner than if they had undergone a much bigger operation.”
 
Some surgeons believe using a standalone device could lead to subsidence, or question if the simplified construct will eventually fail.
 
Not so, said Michael Weiss, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon in Boca Raton, Fla. “When you insert the device, screw it into place, expand it, and hear the mechanism pulling those bones apart, you see and feel the results. They don’t subside. They give you excellent bone graft abilities. And after you’ve done a few of these, you then get the confidence that, ‘I don’t need all that posterior fixation,’ because the anterior column, when that’s solid, it’s solid and your spine is stable. So, if you are worried that this is not enough, you can allay those fears, because it is.”