PUMA System™ has been successfully used in Lapidus surgeries reports Panther Orthopedics, Inc., an orthopedics-focused medical technology company based in Silicon Valley
The PUMA System is the first and only FDA-cleared superelastic fixation device that maintains continuous compression without creep. Panther’s soft tissue platform technology offers biomechanical and clinical advantages because its spring-like design moves with the body while still maintaining continuous fixation.
The PUMA System is a nitinol-based soft tissue fixation device that uses cyclical loading to provide stabilization without over-compression or loosening. Bringing nitinol into use for soft tissue applications with the PUMA System is a novel innovation, providing significant advantages over existing screw or endobutton type fixation devices. Superelastic stabilization provides creep-free, continuous compression, reducing over-compression and subsequent adverse effects that impact patient quality of life. Nitinol has a proven safety record in foot and ankle surgical repair and reconstruction implants.
“The PUMA system is an absolute game-changer in foot and ankle surgery. This is the only system that allows for Nitinol superelastic stabilization across the soft tissues without concern for loosening, all while maintaining continuous compression and reduction. The ingenious PUMA system allows for faster patient recovery and improved patient outcomes, putting it head and shoulders above the competition,” said Jason Nowak, D.P.M. Shasta Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Redding, California.
“The PUMA System helps surgeons stabilize key structures without fear of over-compression or and its potentially adverse consequences. The flexibility and stabilization offered by the PUMA System offers a solution to the highly mobile inner cuneiform joint. Since our device does not creep, the joint is securely stabilized while allowing more anatomical motion. The successful use in these Lapidus cases confirms the versatility of the PUMA System as a soft tissue platform solution and gives surgeons an effective tool in their armamentarium,” said Kathy Stecco, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of Panther Orthopedics.
Previous clinical assessments have demonstrated the PUMA System’s favorable profile for effectively treating ankle syndesmosis injuries. In 2020, a mid-term clinical assessment studying the use of the PUMA System in patients with sydesmosis disruptions followed over 50 patients over 22 months, tracking procedural safety and healing response via postoperative radiographic and clinical evaluations. The assessment confirmed satisfactory radiographic syndesmosis healing with reduction in the ankle mortise in 100% of patients, finding no evidence of lysis, device migration, sydesmotic widening, infections, soft tissue complications, or need for revision surgeries.
