Open Wedge Bone Locking

GraMedica has begun the limited release of the Osteo-Wedge Open Wedge Bone Locking System. This revolutionary product is an important solution for patients suffering with moderate to severe bunions. A bunion is a deformity of the big toe joint. This painful, progressive deformity leads to walking difficulties and can cause pain when wearing shoes.

Dr. Michael E. Graham, podiatric foot surgeon and inventor of the Osteo-Wedge device, commented, “Traditional bunion corrective surgical techniques are like cutting a wedge out of the leaning tower of Pisa to make it straight when the real problem is with the foundation. The advantage of Osteo-Wedge is that it fixes the deformity at its foundation. Osteo-Wedge offers foot surgeons a new option for permanent correction, without the limitations of other methods. The procedure is less invasive and patients should experience a quicker recovery than they would with the alternatives.” Dr. Graham will be taking the lead in observing patients in a prospective study.

“Bunions are a significant problem for individuals all over the world,” states Dr. Jim Bender, Medical Science Liaison for GraMedica. “It is estimated that as high as 36% of the population suffers from bunion deformities and they occur more frequently in women and older individuals. With the over 200,000 bunion surgeries performed within the United States every year, one of the main complications is a 60% chance of bunion reoccurrence. However, thanks to the breakthrough design of Osteo-Wedge there should be a significantly lower chance of reoccurrence as it fixes the deformity at its apex.”

The new Osteo-Wedge Open Wedge Bone Locking System will be made available in a limited-release immediately in the U.S., with a full rollout expected to be completed by the end of 2011. Osteo-Wedge is the latest innovative solution offered by GraMedica, who successfully launched HyProCure, an extra-osseous talotarsal stabilization device, in 2006.