Orthopedic surgeons at Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington Country, N.J., are the first in the state to offer the Rotation Medical Rotator Cuff System, an implant used to treat shoulder pain.
Here are five key points:
1. The Rotation Medical rotator cuff system is a minimally invasive "bioinductive" implant. It is made from bovine Achilles tendon, designed to achieve porosity and purity.
2. The implant is meant to cultivate natural regeneration of additional tendon tissue, which leads to faster healing and less likelihood of future tendon tearing.
3. Traditional open repair, arthroscopic and mini-open repair are the most common techniques physicians use to repair rotator cuffs. This implant is used only for arthroscopic and mini-open rotator cuff procedures.
4. Once the injured tendon is found arthroscopically, the surgeon prepares the remaining rotator cuff for the graft. Through a tiny incision, the surgeon places the bioinductive tissue implant over the tendon, using sutures to fasten the implant to the native rotator cuff tendon. The procedure is over in 25 to 30 minutes.
5. Patients are expected to recover after about two to three months of physical therapy.
"Traditionally, symptomatic high-grade tears are reattached to the bone using suture anchors. Recovery could take six months or more," Sean McMillan, DO, FAOAO, chief of orthopedic sports medicine at Lourdes. "However, through the science of the Rotation Medical Rotator Cuff System, these high-grade tears can now be repaired arthroscopically. We are seeing patients return to function in nearly half the time."