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June 6, 2006 – Columbus, Ohio – Dr. Paul Melaragno, orthopedic surgeon of the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence today at Riverside Methodist Hospital conducted the first total knee replacement utilizing a breakthrough gender specific implant in Ohio. The new implant was unveiled recently at a joint press conference with one of the surgeon developers, Robert E. Booth, M.D., Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital, and Zimmer, a worldwide leader in orthopedics. The Gender Solutions Knee is implanted using existing, clinically successful surgical techniques, including Zimmer’s minimally invasive approaches.
The Gender Solutions™ High-Flex Knee is the first knee replacement shaped to fit a woman’s anatomy. The Gender Solutions High-Flex Knee was designed based on three distinct and scientifically documented shape differences between women’s and men’s knees, and a sophisticated and highly detailed map of the joint created using three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) imaging. The implant’s goals include alleviating knee pain and restoring mobility, while offering fit and function that is optimized for the characteristics more commonly
seen in female patients.
“I am very enthusiastic about this new implant. I can certainly tell a difference and believe it will solve problems with matching anatomy more completely. It just fits better” says Dr. Melaragno.
Nearly two-thirds of the more than 400,000 annual knee replacement patients are women, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, and the numbers continue to increase each year. Research shows that while both women and men vastly underuse knee replacement, women are three times less likely than men to undergo the procedure, although they suffer from more knee pain and resulting disability. Knee replacements have long been available in many
sizes, but merely using a different size for women doesn’t resolve anatomical differences. Various studies show that women’s knees significantly differ in shape from men’s knees. Pioneering research conducted for Zimmer precisely maps out those differences and is the foundation for the design and development of the Gender Solutions Knee.
More information about this product can be found at www.zimmernews.com
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