AVAmax Vertebral BalloonSpinal injuries may vary from comparatively mild ligament and muscle strains to fractures and dislocations of the bony vertebrae, to incapacitating spinal cord injuries. Well, CareFusion declared the release of the AVAmax Vertebral Balloon, a minimally invasive device for application during kyphoplasty, a process for treating spinal compression fractures.

CareFusion is claimed to be the only company in the industry to deliver a full line of devices that deal with both vertebroplasty and balloon kyphoplasty, the two chief approaches to treat spinal compression fractures by supposedly offering bone cement into the vertebral space with dedicated needles. The company would provide the new AVAmax Vertebral Balloon as part of a system that comprises of needles, bone cement and delivery instruments for both kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty, thereby offering doctors the option and elasticity to conduct either procedure at the time of patient care.

“Stabilizing spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis through kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty is a mainstay of treatment. However it may be difficult for doctors to predict which procedure to perform until they see the current state of the fracture once in the procedure room,” commented, Dr. Wade Wong, Professor of Radiology, division of Interventional Neuroradiology at the University of California, San Diego.

The AVAmax Vertebral Balloon and the gears required to conduct the procedure could be extremely competitively priced, thereby making the process even more available for clinicians and their patients. Moreover, the AVAmax PLUS vertebral augmentation system utilized along with the AVAmax Vertebral Balloon to bring cement, encompasses attributes that enable the radiologist’s hands to be out of the radiation field, thus making the process safer for the clinician.

David Schlotterbeck, chairman and CEO of CareFusion, commented, “Adding the AVAmax Vertebral Balloon to our existing offering is another example of CareFusion’s commitment to developing products that help lower the cost and improve the safety of health care. Our entry into the kyphoplasty market builds upon our existing leadership in vertebroplasty and provides physicians with a less expensive way to treat spinal compression fractures by reducing waste of unused components between the two procedures.”

During a kyphoplasty, a small balloon is supposedly utilized to craft a cavity in the vertebral body and eventually supply bone cement in that cavity.

A vertebroplasty apparently does not encompass the application of a surgical balloon to provide the bone cement.