Bone graft surgery is one of the most effective methods of bone repair. Surgeons use bone grafting to repair bones with multiple or complex fractures as well as for those that do not respond well to the initial treatment. They also utilize bone grafting for spinal fusions, regeneration of bones lost to injury, bone diseases, and infections. Bone grafting technology and bone graft delivery devices like the Graftgun® have improved bone repair in several ways. Here’s how graft delivery devices have enhanced bone repair.
The success of bone graft surgery is dependent on the precision of graft delivery. If you dispense excess bone graft or insufficient bone graft, the bone repair will not be successful. Complex procedures like spinal fusions call for high accuracy levels, as a simple mistake may cause your patient more pain because of nonunion. Usually, bone repair utilizes three types of bone graft– allograft, autograft, and synthetic.
An allograft is derived from the bones of a cadaver or a deceased donor, while an autograft is extracted from the bones of a patient’s body such as the wrist, hips, pelvis, and ribs. Synthetic allografts are artificially produced. Regardless of the type of bone graft used in bone repair, it helps to have modern graft delivery systems that enhance graft delivery accuracy.
The modern devices for graft delivery like the Graftgun® are more versatile than the old graft delivery devices such as the bone funnel, the cannula, and syringe. For instance, the Graftgun® has a flexible and well-marked tube that can easily deliver bone graft in hard to reach areas. The Graftgun® also utilizes a controlled release trigger that allows you to deliver 0.255cc of graft per every squeeze. The trigger also releases enough pressure to fill any bone void, even in expandable cages that are hard to fill. Additionally, if your patient has surgically implanted devices such as screws, plates, and joint replacements, you can deliver bone graft around the implants to reinforce the bone repair.
The Graftgun® is designed for single-hand use, thus a surgeon has more utility with the other hand. This makes the bone graft surgery more effective because it boosts the surgeon’s stability and balance. Therefore, you can use other instruments that contribute to the success of the surgery.
Additionally, the Graftgun® gives you a tactile feel during graft delivery. This helps you establish when you have delivered enough bone graft in the bone voids. When the correct amount of bone graft is used in bone repair, the patient will experience a more painless healing process. Even more, the fractured bones may heal much faster.
A graft delivery device will enable you to perform bone graft surgeries much faster and more accurately. As such, you can see more patients who need bone repair, hence increasing your productivity. More importantly, bone graft delivery devices allow for minimally invasive operation, making bone graft surgery less painful for your patients. For instance, when performing a bone repair using an allograft, you may only have to make one incision to accommodate the bone graft delivery device. Your patient will experience less pain during the surgery and the recovery and healing process will be less painful.
Given the numerous advantages of the modern devices for bone graft delivery like the Graftgun®, it is no surprise that the United States medical industry has fully embraced these devices. With a market value of $140 billion, the United States is the world’s largest medical device market. Bone repair is now more effective, accurate, and less painful thanks to modern devices for graft delivery. The Graftgun® has especially impressed bone graft surgeons in America and across the world, who find this bone graft delivery device extremely helpful in bone graft surgery.