Colombian surgeon performs first total knee replacement using Smith & Nephew’s VISIONAIRE™ Cutting Guides in Latin America

Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN;LSE:SN), the global medical technology business, today announced the successful outcome of the first total knee replacement in Colombia using the innovative VISIONAIRE Cutting Guides. The surgery, which was performed by Dr. César Rocha at Fundación Cardio Infantil de Bogotá, demonstrates the expanding global popularity of the pioneering, patient-specific VISIONAIRE instrumentation, as well as the company’s increasing presence in the Latin American joint replacement market.

VISIONAIRE Cutting Guides are single-use, surgical instruments designed using MRI and X-Ray data to accurately match the unique anatomy of each patient’s knee joint. The precise fit of the cutting guides allows a surgeon to accommodate the specific shapes and angles of the joint while aligning the implant to offer the desired outcome. Also, because the cutting guides arrive to the surgeon ready to use, VISIONAIRE surgeons are able to eliminate multiple steps from the surgery that would otherwise be necessary to prepare the patient to receive the standard, more invasive instrumentation.[i]

“This technology is remarkable,” says Dr. Rocha. “I now arrive in the operating room with a unique surgical plan for each patient’s knee anatomy and specialized surgical instruments to match. Plus, the simplified procedure means that my patients may face shorter surgeries that result in accurately placed implants, while my staff and I have fewer instrument trays to manage and surgical steps to perform.”

A 2011 study published in the Journal of Arthroplasty (JOA) reported that patient-matched technologies, such as VISIONAIRE Cutting Guides, can reduce a hospital’s sterilization costs while increasing OR efficiency by eliminating nearly half of the instrument trays needed and more than twenty surgical steps from each surgery.[ii]

“As a company, Smith & Nephew has been very clear regarding our strategy to build dynamic and sustainable business in emerging markets around the world,” said Maria Jesus Barrenechea, SVP and General Manager for Smith & Nephew’s Latin American region. “Today, we are seeing that strategy come to life as the innovative VISIONAIRE system is introduced into one of the largest economies in Latin America.”

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About Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping healthcare professionals improve people's lives. With leadership positions in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities, Smith & Nephew has around 14,000 employees and a presence in more than 100 countries. Annual sales in 2014 were more than $4.6 billion. Smith & Nephew is a member of the FTSE100 (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN).

For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit our corporate website www.smith-nephew.com, follow @SmithNephewplc on Twitter or visit SmithNephewplc on Facebook.com

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