First FDA Approved Cormet H...

First Post-FDA Approved Stryker Cormet™ Hip Resurfacing Procedure Performed

Link  http://www.ryortho.com/NEWSSHORTS/volume3/issue35/11-07-07-NS-First.htm

By Walter Eisner November 7, 2007

Orville Todd is the first person in the U.S. to undergo Stryker's Cormet Hip Resurfacing procedure since the FDA approved the procedure last summer.

The procedure was performed by Richard A. Conn, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon with Southern Bone & Joint Specialists in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Todd, 60, said, “I had hip pain for about five years, and it just kept getting worse. Finally it got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore. It made my job difficult—the longer the day went, the more I'd hurt." Since the surgery, Todd says, "I can do most anything now. Knowing what I know now, I would have gone in for this three years ago. It seems like it's going to be a long-term solution for me."

Hip resurfacing gives the more than 43 million Americans suffering from arthritis an alternative to total hip replacement.

Since performing the first procedure with the Cormet Hip Resurfacing System, Dr. Conn has used the system on an additional 10 patients. “Our patients’ results have been really strong, which makes for very satisfied patients and a very pleased physician,” said Conn. Dr. Conn trained with the surgeons who designed the Cormet Hip Resurfacing System in England, and he is a member of the surgeon-training group for the Cormet Hip, having trained more than 40 physicians from across the country on how to select the appropriate patient for this procedure and how to perform the procedure.

Stryker is the first company to give Smith & Nephew's Birmingham Hip™ Resurfacing System some competition in the U.S. marketplace. The other hip device manufacturers are also in the process of trying to get their own resurfacing systems through the FDA approval process.

Dr. Conn’s website states that he is compensated as a consultant for Stryker Corp. for the following areas:

Involvement in the design and development of a new partial knee replacement.
Participation in the training of orthopedic surgeons throughout the country for the Stryker Cormet Hip Resurfacing System.
Development of operating room efficiencies for surgeons and hospitals.