Richard Buch, MD, performed a total elbow replacement on a 65-year-oldwoman on Nov. 16, 2015, at Dallas Medical Center.
Here are seven key facts from that procedure:
1. Dr. Buch has performed seven previous knee and humorous surgeries using implants from Implantcast.
2. Implantcast is a product company based out of Europe that has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for widespread use in the United States. This means that each U.S. case must be first approved by the FDA.
3. Dr. Buch specializes in Orthopedic Revisions and Orthopedic Oncology and is the first and only surgeon who has been approved to use any of Implantcast's implants in the United States.
4. Due to a severe infection in the elbow, the patient had to have an entire distal replacement performed.
5. MUTARS, the Implantcast product, took Dr. Buch almost four months to get FDA approval for use.
6. Dr. Buch took courses and earned certifications in order to familiarize himself with the Implantcast MUTARS line so that he could perform these procedures on FDA-approved cases.
7. An eighth surgery using Implantcast will be taking place on Nov. 21, 2015 at Dallas Medical Center. Dr. Buch will be performing a total knee replacement.