Smith+Nephew has designed its NOVOSTITCH Meniscal Repair System to repair complex meniscal tear patterns not effectively served by other repair systems
Image: Smith+Nephew’s NOVOSTITCHTM Meniscal Repair System is available only in the US. Photo: Courtesy of Smith+Nephew.
UK-based medical equipment manufacturer Smith+Nephew has announced positive results from the STITCH Study of its NOVOSTITCH Meniscal Repair System.
STITCH Study marks the first clinical trial to evaluate the repairing Horizontal Cleavage Tears (HCTs), which are the most common meniscal tears affecting approximately one-third of patients with injury.
STITCH Study principal investigator and orthopaedic surgeon at Memorial Orthopaedic Surgical Group Peter Kurzweil said: “The one-year results from STITCH are compelling as the data challenges the notion that HCTs have an unacceptably low rate of repair success when in fact, they have comparable success rates to those of other meniscal tears.”
Details of Smith+Nephew’s NOVOSTITCH Meniscal Repair System
HCTs are mostly treated conventionally or by partial resection called as meniscectomy, which may pose the risk of adverse changes to the knee joint, and making them prone to osteoarthritis or total knee replacement later in life.
Smith+Nephew said that its NOVOSTITCH Meniscal Repair System has been designed to address complex meniscal tear patterns not effectively served by other repair systems.
In addition, the previously published studies of HCT repair over a follow-up period between 11months and 70months showed an average success rate of approximately 78%.
The results of the STITCH clinical study showed 91.7% success rate with only 8.3% reoperation rate, and a considerable improvement in knee pain and function in all patient reported outcomes (PROs) including KOOS, IKDC, Lysholm and Tegner scores.
STITCH Study co-author David Flanigan said: “As more surgeons choose to repair versus resect the meniscus, these positive data points help expand this option to more patients with tears previously considered irreparable.”
Smith+Nephew said that its NOVOSTITCHTM Meniscal Repair System is available only in the US, and the device complements the company’s All Tears, All Repairs meniscal repair portfolio.
Smith+Nephew is engaged in producing advanced wound management products, arthroscopy products, trauma and clinical therapy products, and orthopaedic reconstruction products.
Smith+Nephew global sports medicine and ENT president Brad Cannon said: “Smith+Nephew’s goal is to transform the surgical paradigm by elevating the standard of care for meniscal tears to a repair instead of a meniscectomy where appropriate.
“Currently more than 1.2 million meniscal tears are treated surgically in the US each year with only 15-20% of the cases receiving a repair rather than removal.6 This needs to change.”